good morning. breaking news. hurricane earl lashes north carolina's outer banks, bringing strong winds, heavy rain and powerful surf. but it could have been worse. mixed signals. the unemployment rate up slightly this morning, but why does wall street consider this jobs report good news? and macle baby. when his doctors pronounced him clinically dead, his mother wanted to hold him tight to say farewell. then as the cameras rolled, he slowly came back to life and the whole family is with us for an exclusive interview today, friday, september 3rd, 2010.

captions paid for by nbc-universal television and good morning. welcome to "today." it's 7:00 a.m. on this west coast morning. they are looking at west coast time and that is cape hatteras in north carolina. i'm matt lauer. >> pretty rolling out there. i'm ann curry in for meredith. good morning, everybody. here on the east coast, as you were mentioning, earl has >> this morning the storm's outer bands stretch from north carolina all the way up the coast into pennsylvania andp ne jersey. fortunately the eye has so far remained offshore. that's good news. >> top winds are 105 miles per hour. it was downgraded to a category 2 from a 4 overnight, so, so far the storm surge has been minor and the flooding minimal. cape cod and nantucket are in its sights and are expected to get hurricane-force winds later today. >> we've got the storm covered all up and down the east coast this morning. let's start with al roker. he's in kill devil hills on the

outer banks of north carolina. it took quite a beating earlier this morning as that storm passed through. it looks calmer now, al. how are you doing? >> reporter: other than a very angry ocean, matt, things aren't too bad. yes, as you said, the good news is this stayed offshore. because had it come onshore, even though a category 2 storm, 105-mile-per-hour winds would have made this much worse. right now the storm continues to move to the north-northeast. it's moving at a fairly quick clip, at about 18 miles per hour, and that's good news. again, a category 2 storm. that's a really good thing. again, we do have to worry about storm surge. it's not going to be a massive storm surge. we're talking about maybe 2 to 3 feet. but the hurricane watches have been discontinued south of here. hurricane warnings still to the north carolina-virginia border. we've got tropical storm watches and warnings. and then for new england, we have hurricane warnings, because there is a very good possibility that earl could strike nantucket, jutting out there

into the atlantic. again, the storm surge is about 2 to 3 feet, maybe 4 in some sections. five really in unusual areas. and again, this system is very tightly packed. it is raining but there's dry air to the north and so it's having a little trouble getting the northern fringes of the storm up into the new york area right now. rainfall amounts generally about 3 to four inches, some areas may pick up 5 to 6 inches and as you can see offshore of new england the rainfall amounts go over the rain bucket more than ten inches of rain. so a very potent storm still. still a dangerous storm, but as you said it could have been a lot worse. back to you. >> thank you, al. we'll check back in a couple of minutes. let's go down the coast about 50 miles. jim cantore is in cape hatteras. jim, how's it looking there? >> reporter: it's looking a little better but not by much.

this is pamlico sound and that's the problem. because the winds are out of the north as the storm moves to our east, that brought a lot of this sound over highway 12. we've got a lot of problems with highway flooding. now that the sun is up we've got a chance to assess the situation. many can't get through far hatteras village because of the water, in some cases up to doors on some of these vehicles, so traffic down this way is still impassable. we had a rough night. the stormcenter coming about 85 miles from hatteras island. we had a hurricane-force gust. more importantly eight hours straight of tropical storm force sustained winds with very heavy pounding rain. ñe=uññ

is it time to breathe a sigh of relief, sir? >> not really, but it is looking a little bit clearer as to what the trend will be. i've got the longer trend of the satellite. you can definitely see that the well structured eye and a very circular wind field had been skewed more off to the east. if that trend continues, the worst of the winds will stay off to the east. again, on the forecast track, i want to show that we're still too close to call. this forecast has been almost right down the line on verifying now so that brings it awfully close to the islands of nantucket, martha's vineyard and cape cod to completely rule out some serious impacts from maybe

hurricane-force winds later today, tonight and early tomorrow morning. >> so you were saying hurricane-force winds. do we know how strong those winds might be for nantucket and cape cod, how dangerous they might be? >> well, at the present time i would think we'd be right on the cusp of the category 1, so in the 75 to 85 miles an hour, perhaps some higher gusts if there's some pretty good squalls with that. >> i'm trying to remember the last time the northeast was threatened by a serious hurricane, and i can't remember when. why is something that's so rare happening this year, sir? >> well, we may think they're rare, but they do commonly occur and this is a fairly similar scenario around the coast. it was just 1991, which i guess for the younger people is a long time ago, but hurricane bob took a very similar track from off of cape hatteras and came across with 100-mile-an-hour winds right through cape cod. and then before that gloria in

'85. so, yes, you go through periods. heck, i was in houston and we had gone 23 years without a hurricane and were thought of as a much more frequent visitor for hurricanes. >> all right, bill read, thank you. i know that one of the factors is also that the water is a little warmer, a couple of degrees warmer this year, which is helping earl maintain its strength. bill read, thank you so much this morning. >> my pleasure. >> one of the places preparing for earl's arrival is ocean city, maryland, where the winds are picking up already. we've got the weather channel's julie martin there. julie, what's happening there? >> reporter: well, ann, the worst of earl is now making its way toward me. over the past hour or so, the winds have picked up significantly. i'd say we're gusting at 30, 35 miles an hour. the sand is blowing sideways across the beach. as you can see the surf is really churning out there. ocean city's mayor is going to keep this beach open today, believe it or not, but he is not allowing anyone to get in the atlantic for very good reason. super strong rip currents and high seas expected throughout the day today.

now, as far as earl and what it will bring here, well, it's going to be the equivalent of a strong northeast ea-- nor'easte. they have a sophisticated dune system in place to keep the water from reaching the many hotels and buildings lining the shore here. again, tropical storm-force winds later this afternoon mixed with rain and a very high surf. the good news, ann, all of this will move out by the labor day holiday and a quarter of a million people expected to be populating this very busy beach. so one of the issues that will be lingering long after earl passes is the fact that a very strong rip current threat remains here in the atlantic. that's going to be the case over the labor day holiday so the lifeguards here will have their hands very full. ann. >> important warning this morning. okay, julie martin. it is now 7:08 pacific time. once again, here's matt. >> thank you. now to the economy, which has been hit by an ill wind of its own for a long time. this morning, the government

released its jobs report and there's some signs of hope, even though unemployment is on the rise. cnbc's erin burnett is at the new york stock exchange with some perspective. erin, good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning, matt. >> let me get to the numbers here. we lost about 54,000 jobs in the last month. the unemployment rate went up to 9.6%. that was expected. but we should note that private employers added 67,000 jobs. you want to make the point right off the bat not to pay too much attention to the unemployment rate, to look at the payroll number. why? >> reporter: the payroll number is important, matt. it's the facts of what companies and governments are doing every single month. how many people they're hiring and firing. what you do is you take out the census. we know that's distorting. if you take that out, that's where you see the private employers in the country added 67,000 jobs. matt, local governments, contrary to expectations, actually hired a few thousand people. there was gains in construction employment, which was a little bit of a surprise. and one other key in here, matt,

that i would highlight is there was wage growth. this august compared with last august american workers earned 3% more per hour. that's one of the biggest jumps we've seen since the whole financial crisis began. so we have a long way to go. 8.4 million jobs were lost during the crisis. it's going to take years to make that up. but this report was much better than expected. as you said, a real glimmer of hope. >> some people are suggesting that they are surprised that the stimulus spending, and that's in total going to be almost a trillion dollars, right now it's in the hundreds of billions of dollars spent, hasn't created more jobs. it's growing -- jobs are growing at an anemic rate. people are thinking about possibly more stimulus. how do you feel about that? >> reporter: this is a really tough issue. as you said, there's still money to be spent. just a couple of moments ago i spoke with christina romer, her last day on the job, but she's incredibly wary of using that word "stimulus." the administration is afraid of giving the impression they want to spend more money, borrow more money to stimulate the economy.

that being said, matt, there is increasing pressure to do something more. whether another payroll tax or maybe checks coming to consumers, tax cuts for businesses who actually go out and specifically hire american workers. so it may happen, but before the midterm elections politically not that likely. >> i'm looking at the numbers for the dow, up about 88 points even as we're speaking. despite some mixed job news. robert rice, the former labor secretary, erin, had this to say about the connection between the stock market and the overall economy. he said, quote, the stock market has as much to do with the real economy as weather has to do with geology. day by day there's no relationship at all. do you agree with that? >> reporter: i do agree with that. the best the market can do, matt, is indicate the future. if you start to see stocks going up quite a bit or down quite a bit, it could mean six months down the road or a year down the road you'll start to see an issue in the economy. but it really is in the best case scenario. the market is fickle, it trades day in and day out. right now the takeaway from the rally is very simple. you look at that, say hey, we're

going up. maybe we're not going to have that double-dip recession. if that's true, a long, slow job recovery but we're going in the right direction. >> erin burnett at the new york stock exchange as we get labor news on this labor day weekend. erin, thank you very much. >> reporter: all right. let's get a check on the rest of the top stories. natalie is filling in for ann at the news desk. >> good morning, everyone. we begin with a security scare at miami international airport overnight that forced the evacuation of hundreds of people from four terminals. all terminals are now reopened and flights to and from miami are resuming as scheduled. a bomb squad was called in when a screener spotted a suspicious item that looked like a pipe bomb in a piece of checked luggage. it turned out to be a metal canister belonging to a 70-year-old scientist. he has been detained and questioned. we are learning new details this morning about the gunman who held three people hostage at the discovery channel headquarters and just what happened inside. nbc's justice correspondent pete williams is in washington with the very latest. pete, good morning. >> reporter: natalie, good morning. police say they believe that james j. lee never had any

intention of ending his stand-off alive and they say he clearly spent a lot of time preparing for it by building bombs. maryland police and federal agents searching james lee's house discovered that he'd actually been testing his bomb-making skills. they found four improvised explosives he left behind there. >> a lot of police came in here, no sirens, no noise. >> reporter: police now say that when lee stormed into the discovery channel building wednesday afternoon waving a gun, it turned out to be a starter's pistol, one of two he was carrying, incapable of harming anyone. but they say he strapped explosives to himself that could have injured his three hostages. >> clearly the hostages were close enough that they would have been in harm's way had the bomb gone off. >> reporter: a member of the montgomery county, maryland, s.w.a.t. team was able to slip undetected into the discovery building and radio back what he saw watching on surveillance cameras. >> i am directly behind the suspect. there is a wall between me and

him. >> reporter: the officer described the bombs lee was wearing and the control he was holding. >> it looks like two canisters on the outside. looks like a propane bottle on the inside, sort of like two coffee cans and a propane canister. a flashing light in his left hand almost like a death grip. >> reporter: when the hostages tried to make a run for it and lee appeared to raise his gun, the officers fired and killed him. police say lee grew increasingly irrationale during the telephone negotiations repeatedly telling him he was prepared to die. >> pete williams with the latest there. thank you, pete. the coast guard says no oil is laking into the gulf of mexico after an oil platform about 80 miles off the coast of louisiana burst into flames thursday. the owner of the platform, mariner energy, says the fire was not caused by an explosion and all gas and oil production has been shut down. all 13 people on board managed to evacuate and were safely rescued. for the second time this

week, suicide bombers attacked religious targets in pakistan. at least 44 people were killed and more than 100 wounded this morning in a deadly attack on a shiite procession. after wrapping up peace talks in washington thursday, palestinian and israeli leaders agreed to another face-to-face meeting to be held later this month in the middle east. and off the coast of australia this morning, about 100 tiger sharks were spotted preying on a school of fish. of course swimmers and fishermen are being warned to stay out of the water. it is now 7:15 pacific time. you're up to date. let's turn it back over to matt and ann. >> let's go swimming. >> yeah, right. good luck. >> keep me out of the water. >> not anywhere near that. let us get a check of al's weather forecast. once again he's on north carolina's outer banks. hey, al. >> reporter: hey, guys. the weather is improving a bit here. skies are a little brighter. the sea a little less angry. and we're still getting some rain, but it's not that driving

rain that we had just an hour ago even. now, as we look out for our friends out west, it's going to be say spectacular day. in fact you have a spectacular labor day weekend for much of the west. temperatures are fairly seasonal. a little on the toasty side in the southwest. not unusual for this time of year. pacific northwest is going to be temp rat, beautiful, lots of sunshine. a few clouds in the western plains but for the most part things are looking pretty good. expect to see in the eastern part of the country even once we get rid of earl, which should be within the next 24 hours, we've got nice weather for the weekend as well. that's what's going on around the and here's a more tranquil view of the fog across golden gate bridge this morning. that's how it looks below and above. this is how it looked earlier this morning from san bruno mountain. things will be running cool every thanks to the coastal cloud and sea breeze. dropping temperatures along the coast.

inland, still some 90s popping up. the trend through the labor day weekend is cooler, more mild temperatures inland. 70s and 80s inland. 60s along the coast. that's your latest weather. have a great labor day weekend, ann. >> all right, al, stay safe. we'll check back with you in just a little bit. when president and mrs. clinton moved into the white house in 1993, they laid down the law. chelsea was off limits to the press. the bushes did the same with their daughters,he law, chelsea was off press. the obamas seem to be a little more open with the details of their daughters' lives. norah o'donnell has more on this. good morning. >> good morning to you, ann. this president and first lady do try to keep their young daughters' lives as normal as possible. they try to keep them away from the press and out of the news, but lately it's mom and dad who have been spilling the beans, talking openly about everything from malia's new braces to sasha's love of hip-hop. president obama still calls his

oldest daughter his baby, but even he admits she's growing up quickly. >> i don't have teenagers yet. malia is just -- just turned 12. say good luck, huh? she's my baby. even though she's 5'9", she's still my baby. >> but malia is no baby, a growth spurt over two years now has her almost as tall as her parents. >> and she just got braces, which is good because she looks like a kid, you know. she's starting to look too old for me. >> the president is increasingly sentimental in public about malia, especially her first summer sleep away camp. >> which she has never done before and i may shed a tear when she's on her way off. >> once off limits, the daughters are now everywhere,

photographed on vacation from spain to martha's vineyard. the president is not only seen with them but likes dishing about his daughters. >> when i woke up this morning and i'm shaving and malia knocks on my bathroom door and peeks in her head. >> except when the president got in trouble for talking about malia's grades. >> so, malia came home the other day. she had gotten a 73 on her science test. >> it's not just the president. the first lady, too, has spoken openly about her daughters' interests. >> malia's one issue for her father is saving the tigers. so, we talk about the tigers at least once a week. and what he's doing to save the tigers. >> since it's back to school time, we learned that the girls get up at 6:00 am. they are not allowed any tv during the week.

they've got to do their homework. why so much sharing about america's first daughters? advisers to the president say it's totally natural. the president and mrs. obama are proud parents and, like all parents, we love to talk about our kids. ann? >> all right. norah o'donnell this morning, thanks. switching gears and talking about a random and horrifying attack when a young woman getting out of her car has acid thrown into her face. we'll learn what the victim has to say about her bsailant, who [ female announcer ] we know jerry brown was mayor of oakland, but what were the results? fact: brown promised to improve schools. but the drop out rate increased 50%, and the state had to take over the schools.

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with a 100,000 mile powertrain warranty. have you tried honey bunches of oats yet? every spoonful is a little different. mmm. they got three kinds of flakes. this is delicious. it's the perfect combination of sweet and crispy. i love it. this is so good. this is great. good morning. it's 7:26. i'm vicky nguyen. we are following breaking news on a helicopter crash in salinas. we understand the chopper crash landed on the southbound 101 at abbott street near the salinas airport. chp reports the pilot survived the crash with minor injuries. officers are putting absorbent on the southbound lanes of 101 now to soak up fuel from the wrecked aircraft. both lanes of 101 though are blocked. traffic gridlocked in the area. let's check in with mike inouye. >> southbound 101 at the scene close the from airport boulevard over to gould road. trying to get over to monterey

or caramel, you should be all right. two of the top five destinations heading south. 17 and 101 getting out of the area towards highway 1 moving smoothly now. expect a heavier volume of traffic. there the south bay, not a problem. friday light volume traffic there. we are look at getting out of westbound 580 through livermore. very light here as well. eastbound heading into sacramento via 580, or 680, tc here is the toll plaza. no metering lights. the forecast after the break. he

at 7:28. welcome back. a spare the air day today around the area for inland valleys, tri valleys, santa clara valleys. you'll notice cooler temperatures around the bay area, especially the coast and peninsula. 70s around oakland. cooler temperatures inland. 70s and 80s. 60s out on the coast. sunny skies inland through monday. >> more local news in a half hour. the "today" show returns in less than a minute.

7:30 now on a friday morning, the 3rd of september, 2010. hurricane earl is lashing the outer banks of north carolina right now. even though the eye of that storm remains well offshore, al roker is down there and we'll check in with him in just a couple of minutes. and further north in ocean city, maryland, you see the winds and waves are starting to intensify there as well this morning. earl is moving up the coast and could put a damper on labor day vacation plans for a lot of people. it's set to hit new england with hurricane force or tropical storm force winds a little later today. we'll keep an eye on it.

>> so far, it's staying offshore. >> good news, he's not here in new york right now. we've got a nice crowd of people out on the plaza, getting ready to kick off the labor day weekend. we'll get outside and say hi to them. inside studio 1a, i'm matt lauer, alongside ann curry while meredith is taking some time off. she'll be back next week. coming up, a bizarre crime story. >> no kidding. a young woman getting out of a car was approached by a woman she didn't know who then threw acid into her face. bethany survived the attack and says thank goodness she was wearing sunglasses, which is unusual for her, or she would have been blinded. why would anyone do such a thing? we'll get details, coming up. another story come iing up, another casualty of the real estate crash, the mcmansion. why huge homes that have been built, in some cases over the past 10 or 15 years are not in vogue anymore and what the new

trend in the market seems to be. maybe the best story, the most sweet story of the morning. it's remarkable. about the healing power of a mother's touch. it actually seems to have brought a premature newborn back to life two hours after he was declared dead. and a camera was rolling the whole time. and now mom and baby and the whole family are doing great. we'll be speaking to them in an exclusive interview coming up in our next half hour. before we get to all of that, let's go back down to north carolina, the outer banks. al has a check on hurricane earl. al, good morning. >> good morning, matt and ann. we're checking out the radar right now on my ipad. i can see we are still in the thick of it. you can see these bands coming around as you go to the radar, you'll see again earl right now is 85 miles offshore. and it's a category 2 storm, 105-mile-per-hour winds. again this is a very potent storm. luckily, it has not made landfall here. we can't say the same for

nantucket. they may, in fact, have a landfall later. later this afternoon and this evening, hurricane earl makes its way up the coast. it's threatening maryland's coast and then later tonight, long island where they're going to get pounded, the eastern half of long island is going to get pounded with strong winds and rain and then we get up into an rains. they may get a direct hit. of course, we've been telling you, they haven't had one since bob in 1991. while it is not a direct hit and this system has weakened, it's still a pretty potent weather system. matt, ann, back to you guys. >> al, thank you so much. and we'll get the rest of al's forecast coming up in a moment. first, we want to tell you about a horrific attack. a 28-year-old woman in washington state who had acid thrown into her face by a complete stranger. she's sharing her story and showing some remarkable courage even as her assailant remains on

the loose. kristen walker has more on this. >> reporter: good morning, ann. bethany storro has endured a lot in life. a childhood illness has made it difficult for her to hear but she has overcome that obstacle and now she's showing her strength again. >> i can't let what she did to me wreck my life. that's not fair. >> reporter: bethany storro, wearing the bandages from this week's surgery is not letting the physical or emotional pain stop her from speaking out. >> if we can catch that girl, that would be awesome. >> reporter: that girl bethany wants police to find changed her life forever. a few days ago, this was bethany storro, a 28-year-old professional. here, sharing a laugh at her sister's wedding. but monday night, bethany stopped to get a cup of coffee in downtown vancouver when a woman she had never seen before approached her and, for unknown reasons, threw acid in her face.

>> it was the most painful thing. my heart stopped. i almost passed out. imagine that on your skin. i could hear it sizzling. once it hit me, i could actually hear it bubbling and sizzling in my skin. >> reporter: bethany dropped to the ground. strangers rushed to help. her family is devastated. >> you can imagine how i feel. this is my little girl. we're a strong family that loves each other very much. we'll get through this. we're not going to allow this to stop our lives. >> reporter: bethany has experienced challenges in the past. as a baby, she contracted spinal meningitis, which caused partial hearing loss. doctors say the acid attack could have taken her eyesight, but it didn't, because she was wearing sunglasses. >> i don't normally wear sunglasses. i just don't like them or anything. it's a miracle because, i mean, 20 minutes before, you know -- i

want to buy glasses. that's jesus for sure. i mean, you know? that's a miracle. >> reporter: according to experts, acid attacks are unusual in the united states and say they are more common in countries like bangladesh and pakistan. young women are usually targeted for domestic disputes. police investigating the attack on bethany says it appears random. >> i have no enemies. >> reporter: in fact, she has a community of friends at the safeway grocery store where she works, all rallying around her. amazingly, bethany is trying to lift her loved one's spirits, too. >> i have an amazing family and friends that love me and i'm blessed, you know. i'm trying to stay positive. i'm a happy person. i like making others laugh because i'm just hilarious. >> reporter: incredible grace

under extraordinary circumstances. >> in time, i'm going to forgive her because if i don't, then it's hard to move on with my life. >> reporter: bethany's doctors say she has second-degree burns and are hopeful they can repair most of the damage. ann? >> kristen welker, thank you very much. >> clint van zandt joins us. she is described as an african-american woman, hair slicked back into a ponytail, wearing several earrings and a green top. bethany said she walked up to her, holding a cup and said, hey, pretty girl, do you want to drink this? clint, possible motivation? >> number one, it's amazing the resilience this woman has and, number two, she was able to take this mental snapshot in her mind of her assailant. one of four different motivations. one, it could be someone who is substance abuse.

we see a lot of these, for lack of a better term, crazy attacks related to somebody who is under the influence of something. number two, it could be a mental illness. number three, ann, many times we see these bizarre gang initiations where you have to commit some horrific act to be a member of a gang and, number four, because we have this black/white type of issue, it could also be considered a hate crime. that's the challenge right now. what was the motivation? >> and you also suspect that something likely happened to the attacker just hours -- within hours of the attack? >> yeah. you know, should it be either substance abuse, just the ingestion of something or some type of mental illness within the last 24 or 48 hours, we usually find something happened in that assailant's life that would cause, in this case, her to come forward and do this. ann, the interesting thing is that this appears to be obviously premeditated. in essence, the victim just happened to show up, just happened to get out of her car, but the assailant is already

there, already has the acid in a cup. you don't carry acid in a cup up and down the street all day. she had to have been planning to do this. premeditated. the question is, was, in fact, as police believe now, this victim just a random victim of violence? if so, what, again, is the motivation to commit this terrible act that, as your lead-in piece says, is normally associated with south asia, bangladesh, not here in a true drizzlization. >> to do it here, to attack a woman's face has its own specific meaning. and what has to be in the mind of this attacker? >> for most of us, what we look like. for men, how tall we are. and not being a sexist but for a woman many times we put a lot of value in her face. when you and i meet somebody, ann, the first thing we do, we look at their face. we start to make a judgment on them, based upon how they look.

well, this assailant attacked what was very near and dear. again, it was a woman. so, she knew the value of the face, of the attractiveness. and that's what she went for. but, ann, this wasn't just taking a key and scraping the side of your car. this is i'm going to do this and for the rest of your life, you will have these permanent physical and mental scars. a terrible attack. >> the woman is at large, the attacker. based on the nature of this crime, what is the likelihood that police will be able to gather enough evidence to find her? >> there's a potential lot of evidence. number one, the cup. the assailant would have disposed of that. we have the potential for fingerprints. we may have dna that may be recoverable. we're going to have surveillance cameras. it's hard to walk down the street without your picture taken from a surveillance camera. if she bought the acid, let's say it was toilet bowl cleaner or something like that, in a local drugstore or hardware

store. that's going to be receipts. if she took a bus or took a cab, there's going to be some record or somebody who is going to recognize her as having used that mode of transportation. so, there's a lot of potential leads. notwithstanding that distinctive picture we have and those three ear piercings, if that woman is from the local area, someone should recognize those distinctive piercings. >> clint van zandt, thank you, as always. >> thank you ann. let's touch base with al in north carolina's outer banks as hurricane earl is passing by. hey, al. >> hey, ann, thanks a lot. of course, earl is really only affecting the east coast. this is really right along the coast. you go inland and the weather is going to be pretty good. we've got some heat to talk about. southwest still will be very hot. the east coast -- actually, once this moves through, temperatures are going to warm up again.

we have the southeast pretty warm as well. heat continues out west and on into the southwest. pacific northwest looking pretty good over the weekend. in fact, as we take a look at the weather, you are going to see sunshine here in the southeast and the mid atlantic pretty impressive, eye, being protected there by the shores of carolina. clouds filling in, pumping in the clouds and fog on the coast. pretty thick at times. thanks to that cooler air rushing in, we will see temperatures today inland, maybe still some 90s, but noticeably cooler than the last few days. the weekend, we will continue to see mild temperatures. 70s and 80s inland. 60s >> for continuing hurricane earl coverage, check the weather channel on cable or weather.com online. ann?

>> al, thanks so much. coming up next, when is it okay for your kids to stay home alone, how about wear makeup? we'll hear from the experts about critical milestones. also coming up next, the incredible shrinking mcmansion, after this. this season, jackets required. show-stopping. refreshing. glamorous. provocative. breathtaking. charming. dazzling. dramatic new jackets. a ravishing repertoire... ♪ ain't got that swing brilliantly orchestrated. only at chico's. ♪ don't mean a -- i can take one airline out... and another home. so with more flight options, i can find the combination that gets me there and back quickest. where you book matters. expedia.

we're back at 7:45. the end of the mcmansion. according to the census bureau,

houses, on average, have shrunk, 300 square feet in the last three years. what does that mean for you and the value of your home? barbara corcoran is "today's" real estate contributor. the end of the mcmansion, almost a slang word now. what exactly is a mcmansion? >> anything over 7,000 square feet that's newer is a mcmansion. >> a little oversized and a austentacious? >> it has a lot of -- >> do realtors shift away from them? >> definitely. the house is too big, for people who can well afford it, they're saying i don't want it. it's just too big. >> economy, people don't want to spend it and those houses take more to keep up? >> those are all the reasons and people are more socially aware of their carbon footprint, as wacky as that sounds, and feel irresponsible having a big house. frugal has a new association. it's now not cheap.

it's cool and comes with bragging rights. >> if the move is -- if the trend is toward smaller houses, what size house fits into that power alley? >> anything that's smaller than, say, 2,200 square feet is considered a small house. but things have really changed. there's a new move for teeny weeny houses, the equivalent of two queen size beds and they are selling well. >> come on, 70 square feet? >> no kidding. they have everything in there. kitchen, a bath and a bed. that's it. >> all right. great rooms, which they're one of the features of these mcmansions, they are out. so now we're looking at multiple use rooms? >> one room that serves many purposes. a dining room, living room and den, all in one space, considered one room. >> and, as a result, things like formal living rooms and formal dining rooms -- >> forget it. >> -- not really in vogue?

>> people hate the formal floor plan. those rooms are not used. small spaces feel bigger. it's lighter. >> you talked about carbon footprint. i understand solar panels are now in vogue. >> you can save 80% of your heating cost. the big atrium window costs a lot of money. >> they still like big yards but i understand we're seeing fewer and fewer swimming pools. >> of course, because it's not used enough. people with children think it's dangerous, not that it's not for everyone, but certainly the majority. >> if you own a mcmansion and you would like to sell it, are you stuck? >> well, you're not stuck with anything in real estate if you have a low enough price. what's happening is the biggest homes on the market are the ones getting the least money per foot and that used to be exactly opposite. >> interesting trend. barbara corcoran, thanks so much for your information. >> my pleasure. brain freeze, embarrassing moment for the governor of arizona during a live debate. we've all been there. we'll show you what happened right after this.

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"the best or nothing." no oil has flowed into the gulf for weeks, but it's just the beginning of our work. i'm iris cross. bp hak clr e thean up in the gulf e an thluat incsdeyoepsg inu informed. my job is to listen to the shrimpers and fishermen, hotel and restaurant workers and find ways to help. i was born in new orleans. my family still lives here. bp is gonna be here until the oil is gone and the people and businesses are back to normal... until we make this right. so i couldn't always do what i wanted to do. but five minutes ago, i took symbicort, and symbicort is already helping significantly improve my lung function. so, today, i've noticed a significant difference in my breathing. and i'm doing more of what i want to do. so we're clear -- it doesn't replace a rescue inhaler for sudden symptoms. my doctor said symbicort is for copd, including chronic bronchitis and emphysema. it should not be taken more than twice a day. symbicort may increase your risk of lung infections, osteoporosis, and some eye problems.

tell your doctor if you have a heart condition or high blood pressure before taking it. my copd often meant i had to wait to do what i wanted to do. now i take symbicort, and it's significantly improves my lung function, starting within five minutes. symbicort has made a significant difference in my breathing. now more of my want-tos are can-dos. as your doctor about symbicort today. i got my first prescription free. call or go online to learn more. [ male announcer ] if you cannot afford your medication, astrazeneca may be able to help. i think it's probably happened to all of us who appear on tv at one time or another. that red light goes on, the camera gets in front of your face and all of a sudden, you just go blank. >> i can identify with that. it happened to the governor of arizona, jan brewer, the other night during a live debate. let's take a look. >> arizona has been brought back from its abyss. we have cut the budget. we have balanceded t ethe budge

we are moving forward. we have done everything that we could possibly do. we have, uh -- did what was right for arizona. i will tell you that i have -- really, did the very best that anyone could do. >> awkward. >> yes, one of those moments that once you get in the middle of it, it only gets worse, because your mind is racing so fast to try to figure out what you wanted to say. now you've just completely lost your place. >> because you're embarrassed and it compounds it. she calls it the longest 16 seconds of her life. and then she said, i'm human. i'm human. that's what she said afterwards. >> debates are pressure packed, too. they're very intense events. you can understand -- >> ever happened to you? >> yeah, maybe not. i don't know about 16 seconds. >> no, never. >> it's definitely happened, no .g me ay it'ti happened to me. anyway, back after your local news. it's been a hard thing.

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good morning. time is 7:56. you are looking at that picture of the helicopter that crashed on the southbound lane of 101 near abbott, near the salinas airport. viewer sent us this picture, i believe. you can see the chopper upside down, a mangled mess. the good news in this, the pilot survived the crash with minor injuries, that's according to chp. those officers are putting absorbent all over southbound lanes of 101 to soak up the fuel from that wrecked aircraft. as we mentioned, both lanes of 101 are blocked. mike was saying traffic is slow going if you are getting a start to your labor day weekend.

be advised that there is a big clean-up effort under way there. southbound 101 in salinas near the airport. >> amazing photo there. you can see the fog around salinas. that's part of our story. we have the sea breeze back, which will cool us off today. low 70s san francisco, upper 70s oakland. 80s inland. some 90s south of san jose. weekend forecast looks cooler. 70s and 80s inland, 60s out along the coast. time is 7:57. we'll have more news after the break.

this morning we are waiting for an update on the recovery of police officer todd young. he is the fremont officer shot in the line of duty last week. at last report he was in critical but stable condition. meanwhile gustavo silva will be in court today. he is accused of helping the gunman get away. that alleged gunman, andrew barrientos is back in the bay area this morning. is he in police custody in oakland. he was brought up from san diego last night. he was arrested saturday 30 feet from the mexican border. his arraignment is set for tuesday. more local news in a half hour.

8:00 now on a friday morning. it's the 3rd day of september, 2010. it's pretty nice here on our plaza this morning. hurricane earl has not made his presence known here. that could change a little later in the day. we're expecting some gusty winds here, some bands of rain. but, as i say, so far, so good here. out on the plaza, i'm matt lauer along with ann curry. happy to be out here. coming up, i don't know whether we should call this a medical mistake, medical miracle or somewhere in between. but it's an amazing story. >> it all ended well, i'll tell you. think about this. a couple in australia had twins, they were born at 27 weeks.

then the doctor comes in and tells them that one of them, their son, didn't make them -- didn't make it. the doctors give the baby to the mom and says basically you might want to spend some time saying good-bye. after two hours of holding her son on her chest, like this, the baby begins to show signs of life. and, all of a sudden, its eyes open. it's all caught on tape. it is something of a miracle. here we are, the family -- all the family is here to tell their story. >> i can only imagine what the doctors are feeling. >> stunned. they were absolutely stunned. we'll hear more about that. also ahead, when kids get older, they face certain milestones. parents have to make all kinds of decisions as to what is the right age to allow your kids to do things like go on a sleepover, sit in the front seat of a car, use social media. this morning, we've gathered some experts and we've done some polling and we'll try to give you the best advice we can on age appropriateness for these certain milestones. one of the milestones parents

have to decide on is when you should let your kids have their first job. coincidentally speaking, next week here on "today" meredith, al, ann, me and natalie are going to take you back to what we did as our first jobs. i think a lot of people will be able to identify with these. and then we'll try to figure out if we can still do those jobs. >> i know. we are definitely up to the task. look at meredith. >> she was a teacher. >> tap dancing teacher. >> very first job starting tuesday right here on "today." but first, let's go back down to al. he is in north carolina this morning with a check of the forecast on earl. al? >> hey, guys. how are you doing? yeah, earl -- right now, the winds have died down a little bit, but the rain has really picked up. earl is about 130 miles east-southeast or east-northeast, i should say, here of our location at kill

devil hills. the winds right now are at 105 miles per hour. that's the center of the storm. it's moving north-northeast at about 18 miles per hour. so, this is a pretty strong forward motion for this hurricane. and it's going to be affecting the east coast all day and into early tomorrow morning. back to you. >> all right, al. thank you very much. you keep us posted. right now, let's go inside. natalie morales is filling in for ann. she has all the headlines of the morning. natalie? >> good morning to you, matt. federal officials now say a scientist was taken into custody for questioning this morning at miami international airport after a metal canister resembling a pipe bomb was found in his luggage. four concourses were shut down and evacuated as a bomb squad searched the airport for explosives. nothing hazardous was found. all terminals are now reopened. the coast guard says no oil is leaking into the gulf waters after a massive fire thursday on another oil platform off the

louisiana coast. all 13 crew members were safely rescued. the coast guard is investigating the cause of the fire. another deadly attack this morning in pakistan. at least 44 people were killed when a suicide bomber detonated explosives during a shiite procession in ketah. and more explosives have been found at the home of the gunman who held three people hostage at the discovery channel if in maryland this week. the gun james lee used was a starter pistol and could not have hurt anyone. university of iowa football player miraculously walked away with a few bumps and bruises this week after a pick-up truck slammed into his motorcycle, tossing him into the air and onto the pavement. the horrifying accident, as you see there, was captured by a police dashboard camera. lucky for him. it is now four minutes past -- oh, let's get a look now at what brian williams has coming

up tonight on "nbc nightly news." >> natalie, good morning. like you, we're following this storm up the east coast. really, some folks could, this weekend, get some pretty bad conditions before it's all over. we're on top of it. live reporting tonight when we see you for "nightly news." natalie, for now, back to you. >> thank you, brian. it is 8:04 right now. let's go back to al in north carolina for another check of "today's" weather. >> announcer: "today's" weather is brought to you by denny's 2, 4, 6, 8 value meal. try different meals all day every day. >> natalie, thanks so much. we have earl making its way up the east coast. this will be a weather-maker for the next 24 hours for the eastern seaboard. rest of the country for today, we have great weather throughout much of the u.s. we do have some clouds and some showers out into the northern plains. we've got beautiful weather in the southwest. although, it is going to be toasty. some hit or miss showers there. as we move on into the weekend, saturday -- east coast will look pretty nice. although we will have some

remnant showers northern new england left over from earl. along the eastern seaboard, rip currents will be a big problem. as we move on into sunday, again, you can see much of the country experiencing a very, very nice labor day weekend. that's what's going on around >> here's a view of san jose. nothing but sunshine right now. but running a little bit cooler, thanks to what's happening in the north. later on this afternoon, we'll have a temperature drop, especially around the peninsula coast. low 70, san francisco. inland, though, still some 80s and low 90s. the low clouds hugging the coastline straight straight on through labor day weekend. >> and that's your latest weather. matt? >> that's one of those gusts that catch you off guard. al, thank you very much. just in time. when we come back, an amazing story.

did a mother's touch bring her clinically dead newborn back to life? an exclusive after these messages. [ woman ] nine iron, it's almost tee-time...

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welcomerewards from hotels.com. smart. so smart. they're oven-baked flatbread crisps. ♪ with the tastes of sea salt and olive oil. ♪ or sprinkled with italian herbs. ♪ townhouse flatbread crisps. they're perfect for snack time, party time, any time. ♪ new townhouse flatbread crisps. the everyday cracker with the specially-crafted taste. back now at 8:10 with an incredible story of a mother who revived her newborn son after being told he would not make it. the family is here for an exclusive interview. fir first, "today" national correspondent amy robach has their story. >> doctors told kate and david

ogg of australia that their baby boy was dead. what happened next was nothing short of a medical miracle. the birth of a baby. one of life's happiest moments. but for kate and david ogg, their elation came to a screeching halt after one of their twins, baby jamie, born premature at 27 weeks, was pronounced clinically dead. doctors told her -- >> they said jamie didn't make it. we've lost him. >> the nurse handed the baby's limp body to his parents to say good-bye. instead, the mother talked to her newborn when she could have been mourning him. this footage taken by her midwife. the baby lay on her skin for two hours. she cuddled him and stroked him and said your twin sister, emily, is fine. >> he started gasping more

normal, more regularly. i was like what's going on? >> she said the doctors told her not to get her hopes up. it's just a reflex. he couldn't be alive. >> then a short time later he opened his eyes. >> she held her nipple to his lips and he started sucking. >> they kept saying i don't believe it. i don't believe it. >> a medical miracle. baby jamie came back to life before their eyes. >> i've got a very smart, very strong wife who instinctively did what she did. if she hadn't have done that, i don't believe jamie would have been here. >> magic in a mother's touch. even doctors say there's something to it. >> isn't it interesting that the body, the mother's warmth, the effort she had up to that period of time was passing through to the child? that's pretty amazing. >> jamie and his twin sister, emily, are now 5 months old and happily living at their home in

sydney, as yustralia. >> we were lucky. >> yeah. >> i feel so fortunate. >> so lucky. >> the luckiest people in the worl world. >> a mother's touch specifically holding a premature baby to her skin is referred to in australia as kangaroo care. it has helped premature babies feed and keep themselves warm but this takes it to a whole new level. one blogger says it best. it just goes to show you how a mother's love trumps all the known measurable science. ann? >> thanks a lot, amy. we're lucky to have kate and david ogg here with us, along with their twin, emily and their miracle baby, jamie. good morning to all of you. >> good morning. >> i've got to ask you, at that moment after giving birth, after being told this devastating news, what made you react as you did? >> i carried him inside me for only six months, not long enough, but i wanted to meet

him, you know, and to hold him. and for him to know us as well, as he was on his way out of the world, we wanted for him to know who his parents were and to know that we loved him before he died. >> so, you were loving him? >> yeah, yeah. >> and talking to him? >> yep. and telling him his name and his sister and how she was doing and all the things we wanted to do with him as he grew up. >> didn't want to let him go. >> and he did. >> and you did. had you known about kangaroo care, this idea before? >> yeah. i had read about it a few years back, about a woman having a premature baby and your body kind of acting as an incubator to keep them warm. they come out of you. and the warmth, the smell of the mother, the sound of their heartbeat and so putting him back on my chest was as close as he could have been as to being inside me where he was last safe, you know. >> over the course of those two hours, you were hoping that he

would come back to life? >> yeah. >> or had you -- >> we had resigned ourselves to the fact that we were going to lose him. and we were just trying to make the most of those last, precious moments. >> we thought it might have been only an extra one or two minutes we had with him at the time. we didn't know it could extend to over two hours, which was fortunate. it's still going on. so we feel extremely lucky. >> it looks like you even took off your shirt, david. >> i did. kate turned to me and said rip your shirt off. use your body heat. that's what we did, just to give him as much warmth as we could. >> you talked about in the tape hearing him start to gasp. the doctors said this is just a reaction. >> yes. >> this is not anything more than his body reacting. >> yes. >> when he opened his eyes, what was the emotion? what was the thought that you had? >> i think half of us was saying what if he actually makes it?

if he does, this will just be a miracle and the other half is saying no, he's been declared dead. it's purely reflex. >> then we saw -- what a blessing, we get to see his eyes before he passes away. >> and he's lifting his head and grabbing my finger. >> yeah. >> it was amazing. >> and the doctor -- you have tears now just thinking about it. >> i know. yeah. >> because it was something that you never, at that moment, after two hours, thought would happen? >> yeah. >> and you must have had to call the doctor in at that point? >> well, he started making movements just five minutes after he had been handed to us, but the movements were just getting stronger and stronger and after two hours, we thought, he's getting stronger. he's not dead. eventually, we said to the doctor -- he wouldn't come back. we kept saying, he's doing things that dead babies don't do. you might want to come and see this. >> he was amazed he was actually

alive. >> go and tell him that we've come to term with the baby's death, can he just explain it? that made him come back. >> they look beautiful, both of them. emily and jamie. thank you so much for sharing your story. i'm sure it's inspired a lot of. we're backghrit after this. ale announcer ] how do you know when something's good? when something's safe? you talk to these guys. they go through every car and truck we make with a big fat red pencil. because they know a family's going to be inside. a teenager. a guy on the way to the job. the engineers of chevrolet. just another reason why we can offer a 5-year 100,000 mile powertrain warranty. and another reason why a chevy's a chevy.

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this morning on parenting today, when is it okay for your child to stay home alone? how about get a facebook account or ride in the front seat of a car? we recently teamed up with parenting.com to find out what moms and dads everywhere really think about these milestones. elizabeth shah is the executive editor of parenting magazine, harriet cole is a mom and parenting exert. and the father of two as well as author of "i'm with fatty, losing 50 pounds in 50 miserable weeks" and a recent guest here on the show. there is no owner's manual when it comes to raising kids.

>> right. >> you have to rely on the best information you get. when you conducted these polls, did you find a great discrepancy in what you thought the appropriate age was? >> it depended on the thing. when is it okay for them to swim alone? 80% of them said never. hallelujah. >> he we say swim alone, we're talking in the swimming pool without adult supervision? >> without a lifeguard or, sorry, without a parent but with a lifeguard present. i'll say that. >> okay. >> basically, you should never swim alone. no child, no adult should ever swim alone. >> when i was growing up, our parents had a pool and said no one could swim alone because even an adult could get hurt, but certainly not children. >> wait a second. how old are your daughters? >> 5 and 2 1/2. >> very young. you have a 16-year-old child in a backyard swimming pool, you cannot let that -- >> we were not alloweded to do it. >> no? >> if there is a lifeguard present, they should be old and married. >> yeah. you want to avoid other problems

at the same time. let's get to the second one. by the way, you think never is the appropriate answer on that? >> yes, never. the buddy system. if you do have 16-year-olds, two 16-year-olds who are responsible. >> okay. next one, when is it okay for children to stay home alone? 5% of people said age 8. 44% said age 10. 51% said age 14. how do you feel about this? >> i think the older, the better. but also it depends upon the child. some children are more mature but 14 is still a little bit young. you have to go over every rule. what are the emergency numbers? what do you do if somebody knocks on the door who is not supposed to come in, all those kinds of things. at 14, we still have to reinforce that. >> our experts have said 10 or 11, start testing the waters. >> short periods of time. >> assuming the child is responsible. 15, 20 minutes, call and check in. you build from there. again, if you have a child who is very immature, you have to make that call and you wait.

>> i'm more worried about who is knocking on the door than who is inside, other than the house burning down, i'm worried about everyone who is coming to the door. for me, i'm thinking when they're ready to go to college is good. >> getting a sense of what kind of parents you are right here. >> except you haven't let them out until college and they haven't learned anything. >> we'll have a nanny when the kids go off to the next school. >> when is it okay for your child to sit in front of the front seat of a car? 87% and others said any time as long as they're in their car seat. that was 3%. really this is all about height and weight requirements, isn't it? >> there are rules about this. >> federal law, no child under 13 should ride in the front seat. >> federal law or federal recommendation? >> federal recommendation. basically it's just not safe. the backseat is the safest place for everybody. and you do need to check with the aap and the national highway safety. >> we have that situation, your 5-year-old or 6-year-old -- >> i did it once. >> just going to the store.

>> what helps you finally get over that -- >> if that air bag explodes then your child's neck could break. >> it's a safety issue. >> your child could truly die. it's nonnegotiable. >> in the personal philosophy area, when is it okay for your child to wear makeup? before i get to the statistics here -- there they are already 9, 3%, 12, 42%, age 16, 55%. harriet, what's your rule? >> forget about it! they're wearing makeup around 12. you determine what can they wear. there are rules about what they can wear. little kids, i have a 6-year-old daughter. at home she plays in makeup when she plays dress-up with her friends. there are rules for in the house and out of the glass. by 13, lip gloss and maybe a little blush. >> don't answer this yet. allowing your girls to get your ears pierced, ed? what age?

>> nose first. >> simple piercings here. let's keep it basic. >> when they're about 13. my sisters all had it done when they were very, very young but my wife had it done at her bar mitzvah. that's been the rule of the day. >> polling, what you conducted, under a year. that early thing, about 26% say it's okay if they're very, very young. age 8, 49%. age 14, 25%. >> that didn't surprise me at all. i think 8 is when kids start seeing it with other kids. it also reflects the cultural spread. in some cultures, it's very much accepted to pierce a baby. >> i'm going to go quickly over this next one. i think it's personal choice. when is it okay for your child to choose his or her own clothing? in reading your presprues, you thought as soon as they show an interest, they should be able to do that. >> it expresses their personality. it's important. >> and a safe way to do it. >> real, real quickly, social media. when should they be allowed to go online and participate in

social media, ed? >> i think they can go on as soon as maybe their early teens, but i plan on being on that account until well into their 20s. >> safe accounts for little kids and they need to learn how to use it. you teach them and teach >> we're going to have low clounds in san francisco. that will leave us with cooler temperatures. southwest and 15 in fairfield. that should push in some cooler air. still low 09s inland. 101 in livermore today. upper 80s san jose. comfortable 70s for san francisco and oakland. inland areas cooling off a bit. low clouds and fog sticks around

the coast. more news after the break.

an update on developing news. in about an hour, investigators will begin a new search for who they believe is the fifth victim of an east bay killing spree. he is last seen friday. police believe that's the date the murder suspect killed his

father. nbc's bay area christie smith will have a live report with the latest on this developing investigation coming up. in the meantime, friends and co-workers wi co-workers of sin dri trahn will begin tonight at 7:00 p.m. at the glenco shopping center in vallejo. more local news in half an hour.

8:30 now on a friday morning, the 3rd day of september, 2010. we have a big pre-labor day crowd gathered on the plaza this morning. these people are going to go off and enjoy the sights and sounds of new york on what's starting off to be a sunny day. not sure it will end up being that way because of hurricane earl.

his presence is not felt here, but rain and wind and overall miserable conditions later in the day. it's nice right now. >> it's hard to believe it's coming. >> it really is. i'm matt lauer, along with ann curry, while meredith is taking time off. natalie morales joins us as well. you're going to be talking about one of the hottest fashion trends? >> the curvy look, something a lot of men might really like, the hourglass figure inspired, of course, by the popular tv show mad men. we'll see how that's translating into this fall's fashions. we'll get some ideas on how you can make that look work for you. >> okay. also coming up, we'll talk about cooking healthy in the kitchen. it doesn't mean it has to be more complicated necessarily. we'll check out recipes that are 500 calories or less with only five ingredients. i did smell bacon, though. >> one of the recipes is pork loin, i think, or pork roast with bacon. >> still 500 calories or less? i'm salivating, just thinking

about it. >> smells good in the studio. also ahead, parents seem to have a tough time letting go when their kids go off to college. they call them velcro parents. remember, earlier this week, we talked about melissa and jeremy, our "today" throws a wedding couple. and we revealed the four chois for their reception location here in new york. you know what? we need you to vote. go to todayshow.com and learn more about melissa and jeremy and the ceremony location and you can vote for your favorite. >> don't forget on facebook, follow the wedding progress and we'll be checking our page for your comments. you can text your votes to 622639. text one for hudson terrace, two for central park zoo and three for gotham hall.

>> not four locations, there are three. to the outer banks of north carolina, al has been braving the elements and continues to do so. hurricane earl down there, al. what's going on? >> right now the good news, rain is kind of letting up. i think we are -- on the radar, we've been looking and it looks like now this thing is pulling to the northeast. we are on the southern fringes of this. and so we still have the wind but the rain has let up just a bit. and that's good news. for the weekend, though, it's going to be, again, baffle a coastal event and it will move relatively quickly. within the next 24 hours, it's gone. and we've got a great labor day on tap. if you look at saturday, great weather throughout much of the country. ditto for sunday. again, the heat is going to be hanging around, especially down through the southeast. and then on labor day itself, another chamber of commerce day for a lot of folks all around

the country. that's what's going on and a much calmer picture now in san francisco. we've got winds out of the northwest close to 12 miles an hour. low clouds starting to breakup over san francisco. there you see the winds southwest at 15 through fairfield. the ocean air conditioning, as they like to say, starting to cool us off. inland valleys still warm for one more day. our spare the air day. temperature not quite as hot pl 80s and 90s inland. 70s and 80s for inland valleys over the weekend. 60 a's long the beaches. >> the kill devil hills ocean rescue folks are going through. everything okay with people out there? all right. michael morris is taking care of things, in charge of the ocean rescue for kill devil hills. thanks. don't forget, you can check your weather any time of the day or night on the weather channel or weather.com online. now let's head to washington,

d.c. and mr. willard scott. all right. it's that time again. droiv out to the country. get some apples. oh, boy! soon you'll get chestnuts. life goes on. ♪ roasting chestnuts by an open ♪ ? >> take a look as the jam jars spins. vivian houston and vella gowdy. they are twins, and they are 100 years old today. emma buck, 105. fifth time she's righting into the show. our estute crew can you tell it. retired teacher. always doing things.

that's the secret. one of my favorite secrets. dorothy walters of omaha, nebraska, 100 years old, lives on her own, drives to the beauty parlor every day. that is very important to the ladies. i mean, they go until they're 150. ralph monroe of ravenna, ohio, loves planting in his garden. another good activity. 100, plays bridge weekly with her 99-year-old husband. hey, doesn't say who wins. never did play bridge. louise beasley of bowling green, virginia. balances her checkbook, goes to church weekly and is loved by everybody. wish i could say that. and charlotte marcus, delray

beach, florida, is 100, still drives and just renewed her license till year 2013. i hope my contract lasts that long. that's all. that's it. now back to new york. >> all right, willard, thank you very much. when we come back, lady-like fashion. is it back for good? we'll talk about the latest trend. we'll talk about the latest i'm a good son. dependable. i call my mom every week. i even bought her a computer with my new citi forward card. then one day... have you seen this? she "friended" me. there's a whole album. [ laughs ]

[ groans ] and started posting pictures. ♪ and tagging me. publicly. [ male announcer ] you ought to be rewarded for being dependable. the citi forward card gives you extra points for paying your bill on time and staying within your credit limit. [ woman ] nice tights. what's your story? the citi forward card can help you write it. but what were the results? fact: brown promised to improve schools. but the drop out rate increased 50%, and the state had to take over the schools. fact: the city controller found employees paid for 22,000 hours... they never worked. fact: brown promised to cut crime. but murders doubled, making oakland the 4th most dangerous city in america. jerry brown. he just can't deliver the results california needs now.

this morning on "today's" style, the "mad men" look, early '60s silhouette is back in a big way this fall. if you are a lady with curves, you will be very happy. sta stacy london, she is a lady with curves and also our resident style expert and host of tlc's "whatn "what not to wear." by the way, she's also appearing in the current off-broadway show "love, loss and what i wore." congratulations.

>> thank you. last night was opening night. it was fantastic. we'll be doing it for a month. i have an amazing cast and it's an honor to be in it. >> i heard you're fantastic in it. congratulations on all that. >> thank you. >> you still got up this morning. >> yes. >> show us how to do this "mad men" kind of inspired look. you describe it as curvy? what would you say? >> here is the thing. great thing about "mad men" and christina hendricks, in particular, an actress who plays joan, we're celebrating curves again. even women who don't have curves can get the illusion of curves with this look. i will say you are doing a perfect betty draper right here. everybody take a look at ann. it is about creating curves or accenting curves. >> okay. >> we'll show you how to do that. >> thank you for that nice compliment. let's look at our models, though. i'm sure they've got it together much more than i do. our first look by serena. did you make this with a belt? >> yes. this is what's important.

here is the perfect way to either get curves or show off your curves. you want a sheath dress with this kind of princess seaming detail, the belt accents the waist. look at the attention paid to color. if you have a smaller chest, this could still accent your chest. here, it also de-ephmasizes a larger chest. most important, get a bra fitting because the girls have to be up and high in order to get this look right. that's all i'm going to say. >> okay, stacey. thanks, serena, that's beautiful. next look by mary ann. come out, mary ann. that's very nice, very jackie o., i think. >> it's still jackie o., based on that early '60s inspiration. many women think that "mad men"

theme can only be achieved by wearing skirts or dresses. you can do a skinny pant. look at the pemplin that gives you the illusion of a hip and gives you the illusion of curves. >> what is peplin? >> the hem around the top which gives more volume. >> i see. >> this is easy to wear for day or weekends. the knit itself is that nice flat knit, easy to pack, easy to take with you to travel. >> again with the pointy shoes. >> yes, always. notice the kitten heel. this is a very short heel. this is the new style for fall. it's not about the sky-high platform even though we both love it. >> all right. thanks a lot, mary ann. our next model, dawn, is showing off some very serious curves because she's also expecting a baby. >> she is. can you believe that? >> no.

>> look at this body with expecting a baby. i mean, shut up. what i love -- what i love is this is the new length skirt. a lot of people are afraid of this because they think they can look dowdy. i like to think of this as long as you are accenting the waist with a wider waistband, doing visual interest with the plaid, which is also very big for fall. and nice pointy toe shoe. this is lady like. keep it light with something tighter on top so that the volume is only in one part of the body. otherwise we lose the body shape. this is how you accent curves. if you didn't have hips, this is a great way to give yourself the illusion of hips because it looks like you have a small waist and larger hip. >> this also plays into the neutral theme of this year. >> absolutely. >> on top. >> camel, in particular, is the new neutral. you will see color as well. i'm actually showing the neutral tones because when you're doing a plaid this big, if you did it in a bright color it might be overwhelming. neutrals are a great base, great investment and you add color as

you go. jewel tones are very big this season. >> our next model is zoe. >> one of my best friends and works with me. we had to put her in something -- she loves the bee hive. animal print is super important this seen. i wanted to talk about that. this is the h & m cardigan around $24. you can get animal print inexpensively and do it, even if it's a bolder animal print. don't be afraid. animal print doesn't go out of style. it's much more popular this season, but it may not be as popular. you can always have this in your wardrobe. great investment. >> let's bring all the models out. the bottom line on a lot of this is that we're accentuating the waist as much as possible and also channeling our '60s pointy shoes. >> pointy toe shoes, accented waist and you will have curves all season long. >> such a pleasure, stacy lon n london. congratulations on all your success. well done. quick and easy dinners that

are only 500 calories or less. first, this is "today" on nbc.

not that long ago, many families were priced out of an overheated housing market. but the times have changed. get the facts at remax.com. today, the dream of owning a home seems more attainable than ever.

nobody sells more real estate than re/max. visit remax.com today. >> announcer: healthier living today is brought to you by kashi, made with all natural goodies. this morning on healthier living "today," quick and easy dinners with five ingredients and a grand total of 500 -- that's 500 calories or less. with kids heading back to school, it's a good thing for busy families who want to watch their waistlines. nutritionist robin's rescue dinner. lazy days of summer is over, barbecues in the back. parents have to get kids fed nutritiously and quickly. >> right. >> i love your five ingredient recipes and want to keep them healthy. as a nutritionist, that's what i

do. you don't have to sacrifice flavor or nutrition. picking five key ingredients, you can have fabulous meals every night of the week. >> maybe on the second one as well, i was surprised you managed to keep these under 500 calories. lasagna rolls with herb cheese, using a bumplg of cheese. >> yeah, i know. pick the right ingredients and use them wisely and be well under 500 calories. nutrition information for my recipes, sometimes i'm like, wow, i have to add something. >> you start with the basic lasagna noodle? >> they're already cooked. i have herbed cheese. >> what is it? >> goat milk or sheep's milk cheese that has oregano or thyme. you can use an herbed cream cheese or make your own with regular cream cheese or goat cheese and add fresh or dried herbs. also mixed into that mozzarella cheese. you want mozzarella for the

gooeyness and part skim mozzarella keeps the fat out. >> tough to spread. >> it's not that tough. >> appearance at this point is not really that important. >> no. they're going to roll it up. the appearance is important at the end. roll this up like this. this is a fun presentation, too. >> perfect. how long would you bake it? >> put it right in there, put sauce right over top. >> five ingredients, 500 calories. >> a finished product, room for green beans. 488 calories. >> it doesn't sound like 500 calories either. >> no, bacon. >> bacon wrapped pork tenderloin. >> the other white meat. >> super, super align. you have room to add bacon. you can also add ham, prosciutto or something like that for flavor. i forgot to season it first. >> pork can dry out a little bit so the fat from the bacon can maybe help that out? >> that's right. it keeps it nice and moist. put it in a roasting pan,

toothpicks in it if you need to. pork has a natural affinity with fruit, which is so good for you. throw that in the pan and roast it 25 minutes. >> cooking time on pork is very important. >> you want it to still be a little pink in the center. people don't realize that. they want to overcook it and dry pork is not a good pork. >> the way you manage the five ingredients, keep the seasoning simple. it's salt and pepper. >> so much flavor from the bacon. you don't need anything else. it's super satisfying. you're not the food police here. you have room for some rice on the side, steamed broccoli and still come in at 328 calories, 7 grams of fat. >> you have few ingredients, 500 calories and most of the cooking time is very quick. >> under 30 minutes. >> put it in the oven and forget it while you're doing something else with the kids. >> like homework. >> robin, thank you. appreciate it. up next, separation anxiety for mom and dad when the kids go off to college. we'll talk about that.

first this is "today" on nbc.

this morning on "today's" family, letting go. you first brought your kids to preschool, they might have been clinging to your leg crying, as you tried to leave. as kevin tibbles found out

firsthand, when kids head off to college, it's mom and dad who are doing the weeping. >> reporter: across the country, they're leaving the nests. college-bound students moving into dorm rooms, leaving mom and dad behind. >> she will always be my baby, for sure. and i'll miss her. >> reporter: for 18-year-old jennifer wang's parents, it's going to be tough. >> i think it's time for myself to be independent. >> reporter: on move-in day at the university of minnesota, the separation anxiety is just as hard, if not harder on the parents. you're allowed to cry a little bit, right? >> i cried already. >> reporter: here and at colleges around the country, grinell in iowa, moorhouse in georgia, princeton and others, colleges are trying to help by

gently nudging the parents out. >> we're encouraging them to help the student move in, get settled and then it's time to spend good-bye. >> special programs and lectures for parents on one side of the campus while new students are free to meet up with friends across the quad. speaking honestly, there's been a bit of separation anxiety in my own household. this week, i shipped off my own two kids. and it was pandemonium, but my son had this message for his micromanaging parents. >> mom, dad, it's time to let go. >> reporter: i'm not ready to let go. >> you do still have a very important part in your student's life and you always will. in fact, there's a good chance that some of them will even move back after they graduate. >> reporter: oh, heaven forbid. like most families, they're struggling with how to say good-bye to 18-year-old dana. >> it's very hard. miss tucking her in, if that's

okay i share that. >> because you can't do that here. >> i offered. she turned me down. >> reporter: backing off so the kids can move on. for "today," kevin tibbles, nbc news, minneapolis, minnesota. >> all right. good luck to kevin. >> ten more years before that happens. >> and you have that a year from now. >> yeah. my daughter is going to her last year of high school. hav mh more on hurricane earl and more ahead after your local news. o

>> good morning. it's 8:56. shorts and t-shirt weather? >> you can see the sun is breaking down in san francisco right now. inland, though, trivalley area, san jose definitely t-shirt

weather later on, though. the sea breeze blowing through san francisco. much of the same for labay we 8:56. more news after the break.

we have an update on breaking news out of salinas. new video on a helicopter crash near salinas airport. the crop dusting chopper landed on southbound highway 101 at abbott street. yeah, it's upside down. the highway patrol says the pilot took off with the helicopter full of water, but shortly after takeoff, he crash landed on to 101, just missing a big rig. amazingly, the pilot was able to walk away from that crash. he'll be jeked out but it appears he escaped with just

minor injuries we will get back to "the today show" and have another update in 30 minutes. people! look at you! texting...blogging... all this technology, but you're still banking like pilgrims! it's time for new school banking, bubbie. interest plus savings at capitalone.com. why earn bupkis, when your savings can earn three times the national average!! three times the national average!!! new school banking at capital one bank. with interest plus savings, go to capitalone.com!!!!! what's in your wallet? somebody help me down.

back now with more of "today" on a friday morning, the 3rd of september, 2010. we repeat this a number of times because we've been talking so much about hurricane earl heading up the east coast. and i just want to say that right now, it's a pretty nice morning in the northeast. we've got kind of -- a few clouds up above, some blue sky. warm temperatures. and, from what i understand, some time mid afternoon to early evening, that's all going to change here. we'll get a lot of rain, heavy winds. even here in new york, we'll get some winds and then on the eastern part of long island, al

is the guy feeling the brunt of the storm, on the outer banks of north carolina. it looks better now, al, than it did about an hour ago. >> yeah. it has lightened up a bit, matt. the swind still strong. but the good news is we are -- the rain has lessened up a little bit. getting a bit of a storm surge. but for the most part, things not too bad. right now, earl is about 150 miles off the coast here, heading to the east-northeast or north-northeast, i should say. it's got 105-mile-per-hour winds. those winds extend out about 70 miles per hour. so, we do get some pretty strong gusts here. tropical storm force winds are out. we have watches and warnings up and down the eastern seaboard. the storm surge will be anywhere from about three to five feet between here and new england, little lesser depending on where you are. of course, the path of this

system brings it up along the shore line. it will be up along ocean city in the next six or eight hours or so, crossing long island later tonight and then heading on toward nantucket, cape cod, that area late tonight, early tomorrow morning, into mid morning tomorrow and the best chance of landfall is probably going to be nantucket. that's why they have hurricane warnings in effect right now. but again, this system is moving pretty fast at 18 miles per hour forward speed. that's the thing that's going to be pushing most of the storm surge. ma matt? >> all right, al. pretty dramatic. we're looking at you from the wide camera right now and that sea is nasty and mean behind od job this morning, pal. ay safe. >> thanks. >> mr. roker down at the outer banks. i'm matt lauer along with ann curry and tamron hall, who has been helping us out this week. hurricane earl is messing up a lot of labor day plans. for the rest of the country, people are gearing up, they hope, for a great three days

off. this morning, we have tips to make that holiday, labor day weekend, go smoothly. >> if you're looking for more than a weekend away, thinking about relocating, how much you can get for your money across the country. how much house can you get for between $300,000 and $500,000? being from texas, i know that varies greatly. once i moved to new york, i was stunned what you can get for an apartment. >> is that barbara corcoran today? >> i believe so. >> okay, good. before we go any further shall let's go inside. natalie is filling in at the news desk and has the headlines. good morning. >> good morning, matt, ann and tamron. new numbers on the nation's unemployment rate shows that it rose to 9.6% for august, up .1% for july, the first increase in the unemployment rate in four months but less than analysts were expecting. the economy lost 54,000 jobs. meanwhile during testimony thursday in front of a panel

investigating the economic crisis, ben bernanke said regulators must be ready to shut down the largest institutions if they threaten to bring down the financial system. just in time for the labor day weekend rush, all the terminals at miami international airport are reopened this morning after a suspicious item in someone's luggage forced the evacuation and closure of four concourses during the night. it turned out to be a metal canister that resembled a pipe bomb. it belonged to a scientist who was taken into custody for questioning. police searched the maryland home of the suspect who took hostages at the discovery channel headquarters this week and found more improvised explosives and bomb-making materials. they also say the gun he used during the standoff was a starter pistol and could not have harmed anyone. the coast guard is trying to find out what caused an oil platform off louisiana's coast to burst into flames thursday. the owner of the platform, mariner energy, says the fire was not caused by an explosion and all gas and oil production has been shut down.

all 13 people on board managed to evacuate and were safely rescued. officials say no oil is leaking into the gulf of mexico. meantime, bp says it has successfully removed the temporary cap on its damaged oil well and no crude is flowing out. engineers are trying to reach the well's failed blow-out preventer to pinpoint what cause ed that deadly april explosion. after wrapping up peace talks in washington thursday, palestinian and israeli leaders agreed to another face-to-face meeting to be held later this month in the middle east. defense secretary robert gates says the u.s. counter insurgency strategy is working in a critical province in afghanistan. gates toured u.s. bases in the thick of fighting in kandahar today where u.s. and nato forces are ramping up security. thousands of people in southern mexico are struggling with floodwaters after a week of torrential rain. in vera cruz, one river overflowed and left roads and houses under two feet of water. it may be several days before

this part of mexico gets a reprieve from the weather. british prime minister david cameron and his wife, samantha, showed off their new bundle of joy this morning outside their 10 downing street residence. born last week, about one month early, when the couple was on vacation. she's a beauty. and some other cute newborns to look at. twin giant pandas were shown off at a zoo in japan this morning. the brother and sister were born earlier this month and said to be doing well. looks so cute. now six minutes patch the hour. let's go back outside again to matt, ann and tamron. >> natalie, thank you very much. busiest guy all morning, al roker, down in north carolina. he has the rest of the forecast this morning for us. mr. roker? >> thank you, guys. it's this ebb and flow. the wind breaks down a little bit and then picks up again. as we take a look at the satellite, you can see the main feature is earl. the rest of the country will have a fantastic labor day weekend. as we look at today, as far as

the start of the weekend,hings are pretty good. wet weather, right along the coast from the mid atlantic during the day, working its way up the coast. the rest of the country, pretty nice. toasty weather back into the southwest. warm through the gulf of mexico, where it will be warm and humid. beautiful weather in the pacific northwest this weekend. a few clouds -- excuse me, a few clouds, but other than that, we're looking pretty darn good as we start this labor day here's what's happening in the bay area. we still have some low clouds kind of spilling out across the water there in the bay. that's the reason why, by the way, our temperatures are going to be cooling down, especially for the inner bay and coast today. 70s around oak. still 80s around t san jose. inland, i think we're going to still get into some 9 0s as the mperatures are quite warm inland. hurricane earl move up the east coast. we're watching that closely. and you can see the latest coverage over on the weather channel and theweath

theweatherchannel.com. weather. natalie? >> all right. thank you so much, al. this morning on "today's" real estate, how much can you get for your money? we're checking out houses on the market between $375,000 and $425,000, so from a bungalow in los angeles, there is plenty to choose from. barbara corcoran, real estate editor and "today" contributor. good morning. >> good morning. >> beautiful properties. >> we sure do. >> flagstaff, arizona. >> you remember the old route 66, it runs right through flagstaff and the town's backyard is, of course, the magnificent grand canyon. you can't have a meal without having a drop-dead gorgeous view. mountain retreat, extremely green. those tall trees are natural to the area, called tall ponderosa pines. a totally renovated house with a big, open floor plan. i like that it's both rustic and modern at once. it's a hard thing to pull off. big stone fireplace almost spans

the entire wall. that's just a comfortable room, in my book, even without the furniture. the dining room has a pass through to the kitchen, which we're looking right through here. white wood cabinets, updated appliances and l-shaped breakfast bar, which you can clearly see there. four big bedrooms upstairs, the deck is covered and views of the beautiful mt. eldon there. i don't know what's wrong with that house. that's the front view, never mind the back view. if you don't like people, you don't even need to have neighbors here, right? south florida exactly. let's hope you like some people. gorgeous house. to mcfarland, wisconsin, outside madison, wisconsin, three-bedroom home priced at $399,000. >> it has a strong, local economy. easy to get a job. it has good schools as well. don't judge that house from the outside because it's a prairie style house, which isn't to everyone's liking. it has flat ceilings so the dust could roll over in the old days. there's no dust here, obviously. that's the style of house.

woodsy and modern with lots of wood details throughout. wood trim everywhere you look. the ceilings, windows, floors. that's a painted floor right there. the living room has the ceilings that we just got an indication of, double height corner windows. that kitchen area has a custom tile splash. you'll either like it, leave it, love it or something. but at least it's there. that's a dining room. what's odd about that dining room is the wall finish is like a cement, brushed cement, which is an oddball thing but it works somehow there. there's the backyard with a deck, totally surrounded by big trees. nothing is wrong with that backyard. >> that is beautiful. >> and for the kids, that's a dream come true if i was a kid. >> there you go. looks great. usually an expensive real estate market, you found a california bungalow priced at $409,000 for two bedrooms. >> it doesn't go far in l.a., but i think this one is a little cream puff. that's the entrance. they have painted the floors that lovely color orange. i happen to think it just works in that style house.

>> and with the color of the house it looks really great. >> very good. this is a trendy area. wait, look at that. there's a green or pea green living room. who likes pea green? nobody. somehow that's california with the white ceilings, it kind of works. whimsical staircase up the wall. it looks like a work of art. i simply love that kitchen i can't picture it without that bright colored wall, crisply clean and white. is there such a word? i can't imagine, who wouldn't like to cook in that kitchen? there's the living room -- excuse me, that's an added den, spare room. they use a portion of it as the office on the back corner. if we could have a view of that backyard, i think that's the view that's beyond bonus. >> look at that view it pays for itself. >> i would live on that deck. you don't even need the inside of the house. >> and that hot tub, you could live in there. and a suburb of nashville, priced at $414,500.

>> yes, exactly. brentwood is a suburb of nashville, as you said. this particular home is in a planned community with swimming, tennis and playgrounds. it's a very formal, 3,300 square foot brick home. it has a pretty front hallway staircase that we'll have a peek at in a moment there. there it is. that is an impressive entry hall, i think, formality at its best. all the floors are meticulous throughout the entire house, georgian mantle in the living room, french doors that go out to the back deck. >> very bright and well lit. >> well decorated as well. there's an eat-in kitchen, in this particular home, i don't know if you can see it in that photo, but the ceiling is as pretty as the floor, custom shelters and lowed with sunlight. after this master bedroom, you'll see in a moment, there's an extra room with built-in bookcases. >> very traditional home. >> you bet ya. what's wrong with that den? not a thing. it's beautiful. look at the full wall windows.

in a city where you can easily get a job. >> that's fantastic. to another great city we all love, the city of brotherly love, philadelphia, pennsylvania. it's a three-bedroom home, it's been completely renovated. no work for you there. priced at $429,000. >> a townhouse. i can't help looking at this townhouse and think what would you have to pay for this $429,000 townhouse in brooklyn or manhattan? i would say ten times the amount. there hasn't been a single inch of this house that hasn't been renovated. they did a great job. they left all of the charm intact. they didn't rip out the heart of the house and make it look like something else. that's an old country kitchen, even though it's new, it feels like an old country kitchen. >> look at the appliances, though. >> all new, top to bottom. but charming. look at the roof. i love the roof of that kitchen. the only negative of the house, that is the master bedroom, only occupies half of the townhouse floor and that's -- what's the word?

downside to a lot of these townhouse homes is small master bedrooms. but there's the bath. what's wrong with that? i love that claw-foot tub, the window right there. you have two windows and nobody could peek in. >> little outdoor space. >> little space. >> but that's good enough for a lot of people. >> it's worth only one-fortieth than what it is worth in the city. appreciate what you've got. >> i bet they're all sold in the next two hours. >> i think so. >> barbara corcoran, thank you very much. you can always head to todayshow.com and she'll be back to answer your questions. tips for your labor day travel. later, they are packed for college. you don't want them to pack on theou s. s.ou how to avoid the freshman 15. activia's great new taste?

isn't this the yogurt that, you know... helps regulate your digestive system. trust me. it is beyond tasty. mmm. this is really good! new best tasting activia ever! taste it, love it, or it's free! ♪

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for your holiday weekend. aaa estimates more than 44 million americans will travel at least 50 miles away from home this labor day weekend, almost 10% more than we saw last year. aaa's nancy white is here with tips for smooth traveling. nancy, good morning. >> thanks, tamron. >> i was so surprised to hear that more people are traveling when you consider the economy. >> yes. we're so used the dire news we've been hearing so frequently, but it really is no surprise when you compare this year to last year, recognizing that gdp is actually up, consumer debt is down and there's a little bit of pent-up demand and people are actually anxious to get there, get out on the road. >> have a little fun with the family. speaking of the road, hurricane earl, great concern right now on the east coast, people planning to head out, perhaps, a little earlier. how will that hurricane affect road travel? >> there will be somesques. we recommend people prepare, plan early, call ahead to the airlines and look at alternate routes to get places. good news about the hurricane,

it's almost out of here. we're hearing it's going to hit today, be out for a beautiful weekend south florida we all feel like a little bit of rain can mess up air travel. now you've got to factor in hurricane earl. what are you expecting for air travel over the next day or so? >> well, we anticipate that it will be localized, primarily east coast. of course, that does cause repercussions throughout the system. check ahead. get on your airline's website, call the 1-8 h00 number, be prepared and get there early. >> some of the airlines will text message you or e-mail you if you have a delay. >> that's true. >> so you don't waste your time getting to the airport. >> that's right. >> we talk about more people traveling. people are spending nearly $50 more this labor day weekend? >> again, look ath how things were last year, we're seeing that about 50% of that $50 increase is going to ak accommodations, and prices are

creeping up throughout the industry. this summer has been an anomaly. typically, we see prices increase as we near the labor day holiday. aaa is forecasting that prices will steady and remain flat. actually, i think we're down nearly six cents. >> that's good from those days of $4, which were absolutely horrible. you have advice for people who are driving and traveling. and your big concern, of course, is texting while driving. very tempting to do, but a reminder not to do it. >> exactly. keep your cell phone with you. keep it charged and stowed. keep it i your glove box. this way, you won't be tempted to pick it up and avoid other distractions, such as eating in the car. >> it's hard to do. it's labor day. you have snacks. it can be a distraction. also pets. >> yes. we did a recent study and uncovered the fact that nearly one in five people travel with their pets in their laps. not a safe thing to do. >> on their laps?

>> on their laps. >> keep the puppy in the back. >> puppy and kids in the back, safest place. >> great advice. interesting news about more people traveling, considering things. nancy white, thank you. >> coming up, they grow up so fast. check out what the obama daughters are up to, literally. two lucky ladies on the plaza get an instant ambush makeover. we'll check out the results. first, these messages. i had this chronic, deep ache all over -- it was a mystery to me. i found out that connected to our muscles are nerves that send messages through the body. my doctor diagnosed it as fibromyalgia, thought to be the result of overactive nerves that cause chronic, widespread pain. lyrica is believed to calm these nerves. i learned lyrica can provide significant relief from fibromyalgia pain. and with less pain, i can do more of what matters to me. [ female announcer ] lyrica is not for everyone. lyrica may cause serious allergic reactions or suicidal thoughts or actions. tell your doctor right away if you have these, new or worsening depression, or unusual changes in mood or behavior

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[ laughs ] this is it! [ all ] 10...9...8... a new school year has so much potential! any resolutions? my resolution is the same as always; keep her full and focused with my fiber. [ all ] 3...2...1... happy school year! [ female announcer ] this school year, make a resolution to give your kid kellogg's frosted mini-wheats cereal. an excellent source of fiber from 100% whole grain. that helps keep them full so they can focus on the day ahead. keeps 'em full... keeps 'em focused.

keeps 'em full... delicious news for dessert lovers. introducing new activia dessert. rich yogurt with desserty flavors like strawberry cheesecake and peach cobbler. mmm. you've got to try this. new activia dessert. ♪ activia coming up, how to help our kids avoid that freshman 15. plus the obama daughters growing up before our eyes. what their parents have revealed lately. that's after your local news and weather. well, max, first day...

moh-ohm. -do you have your lunch? -yes. and you know where your classroom is? uh huh. mom, i can walk from here. what about your... mom, i got it. ♪ [ female announcer ] they're never too big for a little something sweet. kellogg's rice krispies treats. with listerine® whitening plus restoring rinse. it's the only listerine® that gets teeth two shades whiter. and makes tooth enamel two times stronger. get dual action listerine® whitening® rinse. building whiter, stronger teeth. get dual action listerine® whitening® rinse. hey, you guys. want to try activia's great new taste? isn't this the yogurt that, you know... helps regulate your digestive system. trust me.

it is beyond tasty. mmm. this is really good! new best tasting activia ever! taste it, love it, or it's free! >> good morning. it's 9:26. let's get a check of your weather forecast. >> starting to see some cooler changes. we had the fog come back. earlier around san francisco, inland, still 70s around fairfield. but san francisco and the coast, certainly cooling down. the sea breezes picked up. and the low clouds will be part of the forecast over the next couple of afternoons on the beaches. notice the inland temperatures cooling off as we head through the labor day weekend. 70s and 80s nd

a small plane remains in a

shallow lagoon. ntsb will soon be on site to figure out how the plane crashed. the 91-year-old pilot and girlfriend died on impact. friends say he love flying. ever since his days as a b-17 pilot in world war ii. witnesses say they heard loud noises from the plane shortly after takeoff yesterday from san carlos airport. they say it banked sharply to the right and crashed into the la boon at a steep angle. >> you could see the final seconds of the plane coming down just nose first into the water. and i heard the thud. >> firefighters pulled a woman's body from the la boon after the crash. the pilot and another man are still believed to be inside the aircraft. they will be removed once the

ntsb is at the scene. meg whitman was removed from a trial yesterday. she got her dismissal after being questioned by the defense attorney. she asked if her campaign would be too distracting for her to serve on the jury. the documentary movie about the life and death of san jose native and nfl player pat tillman be egins in the pay area today. it comes off a limited release in new york and los angeles. it follows the family's quest for the truth after his death in afghanistan. initially it was reported that he was killed by enemy fire, but later the pentagon revealed he was killed by friendly fire. more local news in half an hour. this is not a burger. ] it's better. because with 57% less fat than regular ground beef, it's better for you. you see, this is a morningstar farms® meatless griller. that's right, meatless. and it tastes as good as it looks.

so you can still enjoy that grilled-burger taste you love... and everything that comes with it. morningstar farms® grillers® original. [ indistinct conversations ] now that's more like it. [ ding! ] ♪ when i'm kissing you it all makes sense ♪ >> miranda crosgrove, quickly becoming a music sensation. she will be taking over our plaza for a concert on labor day morning here on "today." we expect an onslaught. in this half hour, we're talking about not miranda cosgrove but the freshman 15. the carbs, cafeteria and late-night fast food runs, it's easy to put on weight your first

year away from home. this morning coming up, we have strategies to help our kids keep those pounds at bay. all right. also ahead, the obama girls are growing up right before our very eyes, especially malia, who has had a major growth spurt. we'll take a look at how the kids are doing in the spotlight. >> she's so tall. >> it is nice, very nice. in "today's" kitchen, a delicious alternative to your traditional labor day menu. soft shell crabs. kind of intimidating but we have easy recipes and i got a glimpse of finished product up there. >> is this in season? >> we're at the end of the season and a lot of people feel intimidated but we'll show you how to do it right. you may have noticed we're joined this morning by amy robach and jenna wolfe. it's great to have you both you might expect, we're nd. keeping eye on hurricane earl. the storm howls past north carolina's outer banks before daybreak today. we'll be live with the very latest and job numbers were

released today, the economy lost 54,000 of them, leaving many asking where are the jobs? we're going to tell you. then it's been three months since 7-year-old kyron horman disappeared. are police any closer to finding out where he is? we'll let you know. labor day weekend means it's the unofficial end of summer and wearing white. what to do with your summer gear and all those white pants we've been wearing, from your patio furniture to your grill on weekend "today." al joins us from north carolina with the latest on hurricane earl. hey, al. >> how are you doing? earl is making its way up the coast. and, as it does, of course, we are getting on the backside of this system, which is good. all in all, not too bad. i mean, we didn't take a direct hit, thank goodness. if we had, things would have been a lot worse. however, nantucket may still, in fact, before it's all over, get a direct hit. let's take a look and show you what's happening for the

weekend. the weekend looks pretty good. once earl gets out of here, much of the country is going to see fantastic weather. saturday, sunday, we're looking really good along the eastern seaboard. it will be beautiful. the ocean, east coast ocean beaches, you're going to have to worry about rip currents. sunday and monday looks pretty good as well. that's what's going on around and you can see from oakland over to san francisco, still have some low clouds spreading out across the bay. mainly across the water there near san francisco. and lots of low clouds on the coast. that's the reason why, by the way, our temperatures are going to be cooling down. 70s san francisco and oakland. upper 80s san jose. but notice the temperatures have dropped off, away from 100 degrees around the bay area. notice the numbers inland cooling off on the coast. 60s inland, 70s to mid 80s. >> and that's your latest weather. ann? >> al, thanks for doing such a great job this morning and come home, okay?

>> well done. >> he has been really -- he has been doing so much work. coming up, growing up in the white house, the details of their parents -- their parents have revealed about the obama girls, right after this. for dessert lovers. introducing new activia dessert. rich yogurt with desserty flavors like strawberry cheesecake and peach cobbler. mmm. you've got to try this. new activia dessert. ♪ activia

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when president and mrs. clinton moved into the white house in 1993, they laid down the law. chelsea was off limits to the press. the bushes did the same thing with their daughters, barbara and jenna. the obamas seem to be more open with the details of their daughters' lives. norah o'donnell has more. good morning to you, norah. >> good morning, natalie. this president and first lady really do want to try to keep their young daughters' lives as normal as possible of the they try to keep them away from the press and out of the news. lately it's been mom and dad who have been spilling the beans, talking openly about their daughters, everything from malia's new braces to sasha's love of hip-hop. president obama still calls his

oldest daughter his baby, but even he admits she's growing up quickly. >> i don't have teenagers yet. malia is just -- just turned 12. >> you say good luck, huh? all right. she's my baby. even though she's 5'9", she's still my baby. >> reporter: but malia is no baby. a growth spurt over two years w has her almost as tall as her parents. >> and she just got braces, which is good because, you know, she looks like a kid and, you know, she's getting -- she's starting to look too old for me. >> reporter: the president is increasingly sentimental in public about malia, especially her first summer sleep-away camp. >> which she has never done before and i may shed a tear once she's on her way off. >> reporter: once off limits, the daughters are now everywhere, photographed on vacation from spain to martha's

vineyard. the president is not only seen with them, but also likes dishing about his daughters. >> when i woke up this morning and i'm shaving and malia knocks on my bathroom door, peeks in her head a. >> reporter: most comments made are innocent enough except when the president got in trouble when talking about malia's grades. >> so, malia came home the other day. she had gotten a 73 on her science test. >> reporter: it's not just the president. the first lady, too, has spoken openly about her daughters' interests. >> malia's one issue for her father is saving the tigers. so, we talk about the tigers at least once a week. and what he's doing to save the tigers. >> reporter: since it's back to school time, we've learned that the daughters get up at 6:00 am every day. they're also not allowed any

television during the week. so, why so much sharing about america's first daughters? advisers to the president say it's only natural. the president and first lady are proud parents and, like all parents, we like to talk about our kids. natalie? >> i know. but they are out there, national attention. i would be a little embarrassed as a girl myself. >> i know. 73, exactly. >> especially that science test. thanks. norah o'donnell outside the white house. thank you. the obamas don't have to worry about this for a few years, but if you've got students going off to college soon, we have tips on how to avoid the freshman this,in right after this. ♪ ♪ da da-da, da, da, da-da ♪ da-da, da, da, da ♪ da, da, da-da-da, da, da-da-da, da, da-da ♪ [ female announcer ] there's a place called hidden valley where kids not only eat their vegetables, they can't get enough. ♪ hidden valley ranch. makes vegetables delectable.

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does your breakfast make you amazing? ♪ is brought to you by quaker. this morning on "today's" family, avoiding the freshman 15. you've all heard the warnings. it's true, after starting college, students may notice that their jeans don't fit quite right, the way they used to. here to figure out how students and parents can avoid those extra pounds we're joined by psychologist gail saltz and nutritionist jill bauer. gail, you are in the throes of this right now. >> just sent my daughter off. try not to cry on air. and, yes, the issue of her thinking i don't want to gain 15 pounds in my freshman year, what can i do? to start to think about this --

you have to be really active about it, because the combination of the stress of leaving home for the first time -- and it's really symbolic. kids have been away from home before. but when they leave for college, you know, that's a real developmental stage, step. so, the stress of that, the idea that they're really independent and for the first time may be completely in charge of what they're going to eat and what they're going to drink can leave them at risk. >> so, there are the emotional issues of making that transition, but there are also sort of the practical issues that their moms or dads may have really been the ones who figured out for them what their daily intake is. >> right. >> so now for the first time they're in charge of their own intake. >> and they can eat whatever they want and as much as they want at any point. >> at any time of the day that they want. >> including 2:00 in the morning and there's a lot of camaraderie of pigging out on the wrong

foods, unfortunately. >> let's deal with the emotional stuff first. that is kind of key. you need to help your daughter or your son, right, learn how to relax and understand this transition. a lot of times it's hard for them to talk about it. >> i think it is hard for them to talk about it. it can be hard for kids to talk about it because it's emotional for them, too. you need to be support from far away and say i understand. there will be some home sickness and it is weird and difficult to suddenly be in charge of all these things for yourself and the other stressors. suddenly you're living with members of the opposite sex. suddenly there will be a lot of alcohol around and parties, and you've got to manage the academics. so, they have to have sort of a tool box of other ways to relieve stress besides eating, because eating is a very natural way that people comfort themselves when they're feeling, you know, anxious. >> so when it comes to eating, what are the best tips you can offer to help kids not eat the wrong things and not eat too

much? >> i think i would start with what they're drinking. that is probably my best advice. if you can make water your beverage of choice instead of sodas and sweetened teas and coffees and even fruit juice, you can save thousands of calories, because the liquids don't fill you up. so, i think that students should think before they drink. >> and when we address drinking, even though it's not legal to be drinking alcohol, so sometimes parents are like, well, there's nothing to discuss -- obviously, we all know that there will be alcohol that's being consumed. >> right. >> it has tons of calories but, moreover, it disinhibits you. so, the likelihood that you will be able to restrain yourself from eating the entire pizza that's sitting on the floor -- >> that's right. >> -- if you've had something to drink is slim. so, you really have to talk to your kid about -- there are multiple reasons not to overdo it and not to do it too often, too much. >> it seems like one of the best advice i've read, reading all

the research, that parents want to send a care package because it makes them feel better and it answers that need to sort of have your child to hear from home but also you can send a healthy snack. >> right. you don't want to turn the dorm rooms into a junkie vending machine. when it's in front of them if, there's chips, cookies, cakes and candies, they're going to eat them. we would eat them, too. interesting things that you can send as a parent are like the light microwave popcorn, healthy soups, interesting teas. the portion-controlled bags of baked chips and soy crisps and even lollipops are okay because it takes them a while to eat it while they're on the computer or studying. definitely things that can work. keeping the bad stuff out of the dorm room is key. >> i would want to send a really healthy greek salad that is not going to make it there. >> you can show up with it. >> that's exactly right. >> you can share it with your daughter. >> so really, then -- and

especially for the boys, who will have a hard time talking about things, what would be your best advice? >> exercise. >> whoa, whoa, for talking, you have to keep opening the door. how are you doing? how is it going? do you want to -- technology has really change d that ability. so, if face-to-face talking is difficult for them, they could be texting with you or bbm'ing with you, as i am with my daughter. can you share emotionally, swap stories, via some written form and sometimes that's easier for kids and exercise is huge stress reducer. >> fabulous facilities at all these kids. that's free. they're open round the clock. also, kids can take as an elective nutrition 101 and learn the effects of food in the body and also exercise classes that count toward college credits. yoga, tennis, anything goes. >> gail saltz and jill bauer, thank you so much. [ male announcer ] when meg whitman arrived at ebay,

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this morning on "today's" kitchen, soft shell crabs. no burgers and hot dogs here. these crabs will definitely impress your friends who might be stopping by during the long holiday weekend. finalist on the food network's cooking competition called "chop." good morning and congratulations. >> thank you. thank you for having me. >> tell us a little bit about the show and what made you decide to get on there. >> i don't know, really. someone put me up for it, unbeknownst to me. i said why not? let's take a chance. >> you should be very thankful for that person. >> they're looking for a check right now, so -- >> the check is in the mail. we're preparing soft shell crab. >> yes, we are. >> i was looking at these and i was thinking, i would not -- and i don't think a lot of people would know where to start when selecting a soft shell crab. >> when you select one, you want to make sure it's not too hard of a shell. they bin to molt and lose their

shell, which means shed. a bit shiny is all. >> very, very tasty. are we toward the end of the season? >> for cold water, yes. warm water, no. they're available all year round. >> you have an interesting recipe spin, as we said. >> yes, we do. >> from the traditional hot dogs and hamburgers. where do we start? >> don't be intimidated, please. >> im but i'll try not to be. >> what you want to do is lift up the back apron, that's what we call the tail. give it a quick snip and flip it around. you have the face, eyes and mouth, snip it right off. >> okay. once you've cleaned and prepared them -- >> that is it. soft scales, remove them. done. >> done. and you've got this flavorful mango recipe to add to it. >> that's what i'm going to ask you. would you mind dumping the bits into the processor? >> sure. what am i dumping in? >> garlic zest and also lime

coriander and scotch bonnet and the allspice as well. >> i don't know how to do this. maybe put the lid on. pulse, pulse, pulse. that's what it should look like? >> exactly. we have one prepared here. >> how does the mango complement the flavor of the seafood? >> it's a lovely, lovely mix. >> really? >> we dip it into the panko breadcrumbs. >> what does it do to the process, make it extra crispy? >> right, nice texture and into the hot oil. >> how long, do you think? >> about two minutes per side. >> then you have this nice finish? >> nice and pink and finished product. >> you have ideas once you have the finished product. >> second wave. soft shell crab blt. inside we have a little bit of the soft shell crab, tomato and bacon. >> you prepare the salad --

>> lovely asian pear salad, cucumber coriander. >> great. >> take a sandwich here? >> please do. >> what's this again? >> congratulations on the success of the show. madison, thank you. >> madison, thank you so much. thank you so much. it looks wonderful. >> bon appetite. lucky ladies from the plaza for that big makeover we do

>> good morning. it's 9:56. we're here with a look at your labor day forecast. >> looks pretty good.

sea breeze blowing and low clouds. inland valleys, air quality not all that great. air quality will be bad for sensitive groups. low clouds will be the part of the picture the next couple of mornings. expect 6 0s and foggy conditions on the coast for labor day weekend. >> pretty nice, thanks, rob. now to a safety aler. police in san rafael are investigating a series of incidents involving men approaching young girls. the first one happened saturday near second and b street. a man drove up in a honda suv and asked the girl to go to san francisco. police say a few hours later on 3rd street, a man in a truck was following a girl who disappeared when she caught up with a group of friends. a man followed a girl all the way home and spied on her in her yard.

police are reminding young women to avoid walking alone. a popular quick way drive-in may open once again. it could be making a comeback on lake park avenue. it's part of the city's plan to revive old school east bay charm. city councilwoman rebecca kaplan says the food industry is growing and bringing more restaurants back will help revitalize the area. >> the restaurant industry and related food businesses and eco systems related to food production is something we're very proud of in oakland, and it's a really important generator for jobs, and increased economic opportunity. >> quick way is not the only east bay restaurant planning to open shops. the chicken and waffle restaurant in jack london kwar plans to expand to walnut creek. and it is delicious. more news in half an hour.

from nbc news, this is "today" with kathie lee gifford and hoda kotb live from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. thank you for joining us. it's dry day around here, friday, september 3rd. it's not actually dry day, because we'll have labor day cocktails in a little bit because you want to. >> and to celebrate the long weekend upon us, right? >> that's right. you doing traveling? >> going to the beach with my mom, my sister, brother, hanna. we're going to all hang out

there. it will be stormy but fun. how about you? what do you have going on? >> waiting to see the weather. still a little bit more. may go to nantucket, might not. i like to have like a last labor day something because i tend to get -- i have that sad thing, that seasonal effective disorder. so when the sailboats are still out and the flowers are still blooming, i like to get in every single one of them. >> you do change in the winter. >> that's why i put indoor window boxes in the house. life with mama ain't fun. >> cranky. >> mama is cranky and everybody is cranky. >> if you're wondering if you're traveling on this weekend, you are in the majority, but they say travel is down a little bit from last year. they say the biggest -- it's a pain to travel during labor day. when's the right time to leave and come home? >> you don't want to be on i-95 anytime after good luck time after 5:00 or so. >> that's when it's tough.

i always try to beat it. >> hoda, you have been known to have road rage, and when you have road rage -- >> i only had road rage one time, and that was because and i'm -- i remember it clearly. i'm trying to get off of an exit, and i didn't notice it was my exit. it's bumper to bumper. no one is moving. i pit my arm out and said excuse me and the guy unroamed his window and wailed on me like it was my master plan to go to the front and cut in. that was not my plan. >> were you listening to loud music at the time and rocking? >> maybe. even so -- >> you weren't planning a good citizen for your exit. >> i was, but he saw me in a -- >> i can see you. >> he saw me in a jam. i said excuse me, do you mind. i said it nicely with my window down, and he started f bombing me and pointing at me. >> typical day around here. >> it was last year. i still have post traumatic

stress from it. i get faektaffected by that. i was so traumatized -- whether someone yells at you you don't know and curses you, i fint it very disconcerting. when i bring it up today, i feel anxiety. >> how was your hair that day? >> terrible. >> maybe he didn't like your hair. >> stop. here are the top fall activities since we're moving into the fall. number five on the list of fun things to do in the fall is apple picking. >> this is when you know you're an old fart, when you have an excuse not to do everything. my excuse is too far to go. >> number four, favorite fall activity attending a football game. >> traffic is horrendous. >> all right. visiting a state or county fair. >> too much fattening food and you're going to be sorry when you get home. >> wine tasting. >> i'm there, baby. finally something that's worth the effort. >> viewing colorful fall foliage.

>> foliage? >> whatever. >> personally i like foliage better. the brilliant colors of the foliage. >> some people like long trips to maine and vermont. >> i was watching it on tv the other day, and they were talking about something that happened. when you read a teleprompter and don't stee it. i think it was our friend jillian who is out in l.a. she goes and then something happened in china. that can happen. foliage. >> are you going to bring that up throughout the show? if you go on long trips with your kids or been a kid in the back seat, you know how it's all been. >> we've all been kids. >> on the long trips nowadays kids have to watch dvds and don't interact with each other. >> then you miss the foliage. >> i'm going to kick your butt in the front of your daughter and boo-boo and everybody.

>> boo-boo is here? >> yeah. first of all, there's the game of don't touch me, which is the normal game we all play. if you're in the middle -- don't touch me. here are the lines. did you ever do that? >> no. >> don't lean on me? there's no leaning, no brushing up against. no. no touching. >> what happens if somebody touches you? >> then it becomes a fight. >> oh, fun. the housewives of new jersey. >> you're driving down the street. you have to come up with your own games in the car. what games did you play growing up? >> we would look out at animals, and when i was going growing up a tyronn saurs rex and tear dak tell. >> in the foliage it's hard to tell sometimes because they shid. they camouflage themselves. how many red cars. we'd sing a lot. how do you think i got these vocal cords, baby? >> if you're on the right side

of the car, you go everything out the ride window and if you're in the left you got everything and if you're in the middle you got hosed because you got nothing. on the right side you get mcdonald's and the gas stations, i get whatever. you didn't play these games? >> not that one. >> in the middle was the worst place to be? >> where did you sit? >> i couldn't sit in the middle he can't see in the rear-view with the hair. i couldn't be in the middle. i had to move and my brother and sister would get in the middle. having hair like mine comes in handy. >> that's why you sat on the side at the edges at broadway. >> yeah. >> you've got legs. you do have great legs. >> people aren't interested in sitting behind -- >> people are yelling out weird things to hoda now. this is when you know you are a star, right? nobody goes love your "dateline." does anybody ever say that?

>> nobody ever said that anyway. this is not a good day. >> love your "dateline." they yell at you and they say things like what? >> a trucker did go by and yell take off your shoes. i want to see your feet. i was like, what has happened? okay. all right. so here's a new survey out from adam and eve productions, i guess. it talks about adult -- >> careful. my daughter and boo-boo are here. >> adult toys. you know what we're talking about. >> i wouldn't know one if it slapped me in the face. >> okay. eew. anyway. 94% feel that adult products. >> i need props so i know what we're talking about. go ahead. enlighten me. >> adult sex toys. 94% say it makes for a healthy relationship. adult sex toys and also favorite

products are in addition to toys, which are 87% of people like toys, personal lubricants and videos. >> i'm so happy for them, really. >> that's what it says here. you're not interested in that topic at all? >> i've said enough. >> you have. okay. there -- >> you know what kept adam and eve from being stark naked? >> what? >> they had foliage on them. strategic foliage. >> you know what? it's not that funny, okay? it's called -- i misspoke. all right. every now and then i like to do one of my favorite songs and i'm going to do one now. >> it's time for hoda's play list. >> this one is -- i pick a favorite song once a week. this is one that used fob in a young boy band and have grown up. it's by hanson. adorable. this one is called "thinking

about something." crank it. ♪ i've been thinking about something ♪ >> last time those kids were on with us, i had lustful thoughts after one of them. >> feel t. look at the dancing. put you in the mood. when you stee it, you want to dance. how can you sit down. look. hold on. go. go. ♪ i get you some respect >> this makes you want to get off the couch, get on the workout machines and go running in the park. do you not feel it? is it just me? here comes the chorus. get involved. >> we have to pay for this song now. >> no we don't. hanson loves us. >> hanson likes to get paid,

hoda. >> anyway. "thinking about something." >> let's think about bobbie thomas. i thought she was wearing a darling robe from louis'? >> i want to share great makeup enhancers today. >> you have one minute cookie. >> this is a cool idea. my couture. these are blotting papers that have blush or bloronzer in them. you can apply blush in public. this is a great way to do this. you can see that the color actually comes off, so you can do it at the same time. >> that is such a smart idea. >> they have the bronzing papers, too. i really love that. also to keep your makeup in place, i love benefit cosmetics. they have stay don't stray. you can add it to any colors you own, and did helps the makeup

stay put. last but not least this by body gonzalez ography is a pencil sharpener to keep them free from bacteria. >> i never think about that. >> i don't either. >> it's a good thing. you don't want eye stuff going on. all of this stuff is online. >> look at bobbie's cute necklace. >> i don't like -- really bad memories. >> the 50 seconds are up. >> bobbie, love you. >> are we going to miss sarah. what's happening, sarah? >> we're talking about the long road trips. i remember some of these games. debbie wrote in i spy the alphabet game and tim wrote in the a, b, c game or finding states on the license plates. my brother would say i'm not touching you with my finger one-half inch from my eye and i'd cry and scream.

peggy tic tac toe, hangman, camping trip. i'm going on a camping trip and bringing. >> oh, yeah, yeah. >> the i spy came up a bunch of time. cow poker. i don't know what that is. >> that involves cow chips, i think. you know what i can't get over. how gorgeous -- it reminds me of -- you were in the paper a lot this last week. >> no. >> let me show you. >> oh, yes. are you planning on getting arrested? >> mom, dad. that call didn't go through. >> you look adorable. thank you. >> all righty. coming up next your workout routine, has it become routine? >> high performance gear to get you motivated right after this. let's get chinese.

should we order panda blossom, panda moon... how about chinese at home with wanchai ferry? you can make it in just 14 minutes. mmmh, orange chicken. great. i didn't feel like going out anyway. [ male announcer ] wanchai ferry. restaurant quality chinese in your grocer's freezer. kmart labor day sale! find savings of up to 80% off with summer clearance apparel starting at $4.99. plus get ready for fall with denim for the whole family starting at $9.99. there's smart and there's kmart smart. now with nutriummoisture. adding nourishment to freshness. so you can revitalize your mind and nourish your skin. dove go fresh with nutriummoisture. fresh at its best. what do you call a cheese that isn't yours? i don't know. nacho cheese! [ laughs ] see, cuz' it's not your cheese but i said "nacho".

[ clears throat ] la, la, la, la, la, can't hear you... la, la, la, la, can't hear you... okay... la, la, la, la, can't hear you!! ...that's when i decided to fully invest in my 401k. [ male announcer ] we take the time for our cheese to mature before we bake it into every delicious cracker. because at cheez-it, real cheese matters. are you in a workout rut? the solution might be as simple as shaping up your workout gear. >> amy brightfield has you covered from head to toe with the essentials to help you work out stronger and longer and all the while looking your best. how are you? >> hi. >> it's true. i tend to wear really ugly, disgusting stuff i've had forever. we were out in l.a. the other day and i bought new stuff.

it made me feel so much better. >> it's exciting to wear it, and also if it doesn't fit right, you're worrying about fooling with it and you're likely to stop working out because you're itching o itching or pulling. >> like this one because it looks great and it's affordable, too. >> this is really affordable. this is a lucy racer back top. it flatters the shoulder and a really motivated thing when you work out is to see your muscles working. >> is this a bra? >> it has a built-in bra. >> it has enough there. >> not for me. >> it's like an a or b cup. you could wear something under it, too. the pants are great because they come right below your knee. these are the ones i always wear because i need all the length i can get in the legs. >> standing next to hoda, anyone does. >> i like these because of the ventilation portion of the program. >> air it out.

>> these are awesome because they have ventilation where you need it, in the calfs and the quads. so your sweat doesn't get -- i don't get too hot down there. >> what are you saying, amy? >> you need air and circulation. >> the top is great in the in between weather we're coming up to where you're cold whether you first get out there but you start to sweat. this wicks the sweat way from your skin so you don't get chilled when you sweat. this is from champion. >> i like that. >> this one doesn't look like it has any support at all. >> you know, this does have a built-in bra as well. probably not again for a bigger cup, but we love this top and paints from nordic track and they're so reasonable. the top is $13 and the pants are $20 and they're available at sears. the material feels so great for the price. >> it does. >> this seems more for like a yoga class. it wouldn't be running? >> you could wear it spinning

because you're sitting still. also the panting have aed wide waistband, which prevents them from riding up. any pant that has a wide waistband is going to stay put better. >> actually, i like those sweats, the bottoms. they look good on a lot of different figures. you're embarrassed to wear some because you don't think you look goot. >> they're like bootleg, they don't look too sloppy. >> usually to buy a jog bra, you have small, medium or large. now they have subpoecup size. >> whethn you move up and down e ligaments stretch, and even with an a you need to wear something with support. it has racer back straps that are flattering. >> and adjustable. >> adjustable. for the b we have this bra here, and actually the cups are made from recycled coffee grounds.

>> what? >> you know, it helps with odor and absorb moisture. >> does it smell like coffee? >> not now it does. >> it can give you a little perk up. >> all right. i always go to starbucks afterwards anyway. >> this is great for a c cup from champion because it's got extra cushioning in the straps. then it's also got the mesh in the back. >> it has the mesh, too. >> is it has the clasp in the back you can adjust. >> that's good. >> what if you need a bigger cup? >> this is for d. this is moving comfort, and it's great because it's got an inner molded bra that helps with extra support and the traps are adjustable as well, which is all important. >> look at the back of this. you don't see this, like a regular bra back. >> it gives it more hold. if you don't have the strap t-stretches easier. >> sometimes people are jogging along, and it looks painful.

>> a lot of women in the office wear two jog bras because they can't find one. >> how much do those cost, amy? >> this is around 40, and this is the champion one that is actual -- that goes up to 44ddd. >> that's my baby. >> shoes, you want to get -- if you do all sorts of activities, you want to asics. >> my knees don't hurt anymore. i love those shoes. >> are they heavy? >> they're not. >> you want to make sure you can't stretch them. if you can fold them in the middle, they're not supportive enough. this is a great all around shoe, and this is a great crosstrainer if you do all sorts of activity because it supports your foot at different angles. >> which they'd make a solid white. i don't like all this color. >> i pick my shoes based on color. >> these are neutral colors, though. they're neutral. >> that royal blue is not neutral. >> i like it.

come down here and show us what you got. >> these are extras we really like. this is a headband na wicks away the sweat. you don't have to wear a thick band around the head. >> it goes well with the shoes, too. >> people like color. >> i do like that. >> this is a great lock, because you don't have to remember numbers. you just remember a word which i love personally because i can never remember the numbers. this is a great hand sanitizer because gyms are germy places. put some on. this is anti-shchafing and thr r interval training. >> you're the best. >> you did it all. i said you couldn't, but they said you could. still ahead, two women get ambushed on the plaza. we'll reveal the hot new looks. first these messages. go, hoda! you know when i tickle your belly...

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[ mom ] walmart checks other stores' prices so we can save on all our game time favorites. aah! [ laughter ] [ dad ] what do you think of that, huh? [ mom ] and if there's a better price out there, they'll even match it. which means come game time, i'm just as ready as he is. go! go! yeah! [ mom ] game time costs less at walmart. save money. live better. walmart. [ female announcer ] maybe the biggest surprise about remodeling your kitchen with all new ge profile appliances isn't just how great it will look when you're finished, it's the $1,000 rebate you can receive, which you could use to buy something new in your life, or put it right in the bank. ♪

remodel and renew with a rebate of up to $1,000 when you buy select ge profile appliances. thanks. i got the idea from general mills big g cereals. they put a white check on the top of every box to let people know that their cereals have healthy whole grain, and they're the right choice... (announcer) general mills makes getting whole grain an easy choice. just look for the white check. still to come it is ambush makeover friday. that means the results ared on the way. then we cause quite a stir are labor day cocktails, but first -- he can shake it up. you should do a duet, hoda. >> first, your local news. ♪ eggland's best eggs. the best in nutrition... just got better. even better nutrition -- high in vitamins d, e, and b12. a good source of vitamin a and b2. plus omega 3's. and, 25% less saturated fat than ordinary eggs.

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explore them all. yoplait. it is so good. the yoplait you can't get enough of. nown aca fo pur good morning. it's 10:26. we're here with a look at the leak ahead and our labor day weekend forecast. >> looks pretty good. a sea breeze is starting to cool things off around the bay area. we've got sunshine but low clouds across the water. fairfield at san jose approaching the 70s now. we should be in the 80s around san jose. still low 90s inland. trivalley, 70 nz san francisco. if you like today, you're pretty much going to like the weekend forecast. inland temperatures cooling off a coup of degrees towards sunday. 60s along the coast. low clouds sticking around through the weekend. more news right after the break.

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>> the cal golden bears are out of hibernation. college football is back. the toughest match of the weekend is going to be san jose state at alabama. the crimson tide is role roling into the season the same way bear bryant did in his day, ranked number one in the nation. the spartans take the field in tuscaloosa tomorrow afternoon at

4:00. cal and stanford fans have plenty to look forward to, too. the bears take on uc davis and the stanford cardinal take on sacramento state at 3:30 tomorrow afternoon. a sports competition in the east bay starting tonight will prove real men and women wear kilts. the scottish highland games kick off with a celebration in san ramon. the games take place saturday and sunday at the alameda county fairgroun fairgrounds. they see who can throw a tree trunk the furthest, and putting up the stone which is kind of like shot putting but with a 17-pound rock. you can still buy tickets at the fairgrounds for under $20. the rock could be the setting for a new tv show. producer and director jay abrams is shopping a new product to the networks to be shot on alcatraz. arams is the genius behind the latest "star trek" movie, "lost"

and "alias" and the new show "undercover" that will air right here on nbc. have a great lay dor day weekend. all right. welcome back to "today" on this dry day. hoda is on fire today. time for the plaza ambush makeovers where we give hot new looks to lucky ladies from the crowd. >> we're putting their skills to work, louis vacarri and "us weekly" and "today" contributor and author, jill martin. how was it outside? >> it was great. we found two ladies both with signs and both with significant others who are so excited about seeing their ladies made over. >> we're excited about barbara smith. she's the first lucky lady.

56 years old from texas. she's been married to her husband jim for 35 years. they have two kids together. she had brain surgery two years ago, and after waiting for all of her hair to grow back, she showed up on the plaza in hopes to get a brand-new look. let's listen to her story. >> i can't even imagine what the last two years have been like for you. i mean, having brain surgery two years ago, and now you're totally healthy and you tell me you want a whole new start. >> it's been tough, but i'm ready for a new look. >> and you told me this has been so obviously rough for her and rough for you to watch. >> the whole family. she's come through great. we're very happy to be here. she always wanted this. every day she watches it. >> oh. well, we are so honored to be able to give this to you. are you ready for three hours of total pampering? >> so ready, so ready. thanks. >> barbara is so ready and so is her husband, jim. keep your blindfold on until we give you the green light. here is barbara's before shot. let's see the new you.

>> wow! looking good. >> oh, my god. >> you ready, jim? look at your wife. >> is that her? that is her. barbara, are you ready to see yourself? put your glasses on if you want to take a peek. can you see all right? >> you look sensational. >> i love it! it's amazing. >> you're so cute. >> tell us about her hair. >> she was great-looking of course, but her hair color and skin color were the exact same color. this is a major beauty faux pas. you lose contrast. this is the super layered haircut. this is wash and wear. she has to do a thing. >> i like it. >> just adorable. >> jim likes it. >> yeah. >> what do you think jim? >> tremendous, tremendous.

it looks great. >> her outfit is smoking. >> she doesn't have a party dress and nothing red. this was an instant hit, and it's jones new york. this necklace was 14.99 from kohl's. you can mix and match with jeans and a t-shirt. the boots are nine bucks. all our ambushees are going into fall with us unfortunately. >> congratulations. >> jim wants you over there. >> looking good. >> our second lady is danielle and she's 36 from elmira, new york. she spent the last five years transcribing medical records. she reunited with her old boyfriend at a high school reuni reunion. she's here with her boyfriend, tony. we'll listen to her story. >> a couple of days ago hoda went all natural with her curly hair and you're doing the same thing before you tell me you want a straight hair makeover. >> yes, i want a straight hair

makeover. >> how long have you had this look? >> since high school. >> you're like since birth because i was born with this hair. you're visiting your boyfriend, tony, and you tell me you want her to have a new york city makeover. >> absolutely. that's why i brought her here, so she can experience the best of new york city. >> we are going to give you the best of the "today" show with a straight hair glam makeover. are you ready to go? >> tony is a sweetheart. he really is. let's look at danielle before and bring out danielle new and improved. >> oh, my god. >> you look great. >> tony, get ready. >> tony, say something. >> wow. >> all right, danielle. are you ready, sweetheart? turn around and take a nice look at yourself. >> wow. >> you look gorgeous.

>> that is some smoking haircut. >> wow, i love it. >> do you love it? >> again, that -- she was so exciting, and i am glad tony is so excited for her. how much more new york can you look? the tip here, another great layered haircut, slightly asimilar metric. i gave her a few bright highlights to give her glamour and we had individual eye lashes that reshape your eyes and a few more lashes on the edges. >> it's so pretty and soft. >> it's beautiful. >> what do you think of your new look? >> i'm like -- i don't know what to say. >> you look beautiful. >> tony, what do you think? >> my goodness. she's already perfect. >> oh. >> jill, tell us about this outfit, darling. >> new york city, so we wanted all black basics so she can mix and match for fall. that's three pieces with a great leather jacket by calvin klein

available at macy's. a great black t-shirt everyone should have by ralph lauren. >> come join us. >> thanks. good job. >> now that summer is officially almost over, we're moving ambush back to fridays, everybody. >> we'll go to the plaza on friday. you'll receive a brand-new look. coming up in the spirit of labor day, we thought we'd have cocktails. why wouldn't we? that's after these messages. ♪ [ instrumental: upbeat ] hey, max. [ announcer ] your dog's one of a kind. and now, you have the power... [ giggling ] to help significantly extend his healthy years. a groundbreaking 14-year study by purina... proves that puppy chow, then dog chow nutrition, fed properly over a lifetime, can help extend his lovable antics... up to 1.8 healthy years. [ barks ] long live your buddy. oh, max! long live your dog. purina puppy chow and purina dog chow.

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are you ready for the holiday weekend? we have just the thing to help you celebrate. >> he's here with with cocktails, jonathan pogash is here to share his secret recipes. >> you're making good ones for us today? >> i hope they're good. >> that's how we roll. >> i know you'll let me know. i have a cocktail good for the holiday. i have a few chunks of watermelon in here and mint. >> that's something they like. >> cocktail people muddle their entire life, don't they? you just muddle through. >> that's hilarious. >> careful, hoda. >> i'd be careful. >> am i not off to a good start here? tequila, this is 100 bl% blue ae

tequila. this is ginger liquor, and i'm going to shake it up here. >> shake it up, buddy. >> okay. so i'm going to strain it out into my wonderful martini. >> that's all it is? >> that's all it is. >> what makes it so great for a wedding? >> the color, and it's festive. it uses fresh ingredients. >> you want to try that one, hoda? it's brand new. >> i'll take one of these. >> i'll take a fresh one. >> cheers. >> you're on your own. jonathan. >> i'm not watching. >> good. >> oh. >> are you surprised? >> a little. >> i'm not a cocktail kind of gal regardless of what you've heard. that's good. >> this is a japanese lemonade, and the reason i call it japanese lemonade is because it uses japanese whiskey from japan which is amazing. i've got the whiskey right here. i'm going to grab my jigger. >> watch it. >> it's darn close to mine, so

be careful. >> oh, my goodness. i'm taking some more fresh mint here. >> you're on a mint theme right now. >> what's wrong with that? >> it's beautiful and we don't have it fresh. >> what was that? >> you got hit with a little bit of mint. >> right on my jigger. >> i meant it to stay in my hand. my hand -- >> why did you do that? what was the point? >> i'm releasing the oils on the mint leaf. it's funny a couple jumped out and got you. this is some simple syrup here, about three-quarters of an ounce. >> as opposed to complicated syrup. what's simple syrup? >> it's sugar water. >> this is your aerobic exercise. >> it is, it is. >> this is quite jacked. i can say that on tv? >> yes, you can.

>> this is club soda and this is my garnish here. just a little bit of more mint. >> more mint. love it. >> thank you. >> we'll see if we like this one. what do you think, hoda? >> i don't know. i like that. i like that better than the watermelon. >> because there's no muddle in it. >> let's get to this one. >> this is what i call a labor of love. >> how clever. >> you're so smart. thank you very much, hohoda. i appreciate that. >> it's champagne punch i oous geneva for it. it's the grandmother of gin. >> is it true gin is the worst, it just rots your gut? >> no. >> i've heard that, too. >> i would beg to differ. >> okay. beg, beg. >> so this has some fresh -- oh, my goodness. it has fresh blackberries in and honey syrup.

see that big ice cube there. you take tupperware and you freeze water in the tupperware. >> okay. >> lovely. this is seasonal. i have sliced peaches. >> this looks fallish, doesn't it? >> yes. >> let me top this off. i know how much you -- >> champagne is for me. >> thank you, hon. >> thank you for being with us. how can you enjoy the last few days of summer? we'll have an idea after this. how's na. >>stinreteinre [ poof! ] who are you?!? i'm your "genie"! weren't you just wishing for something more nutritious to eat? i was! well, you could enjoy the taste of decadent dark chocolate, the crunch of almonds, plus 35% of your daily fiber... plus antioxidants in a kellogg's fiber plus bar. mmmm. right then. two more wishes? i'm good. oh. back to the lamp then. see ya! [ female announcer ] kellogg's fiber plus bars.

you couldn't wish for more. why does it say box tops for education on your soup? oh, it's a program that raises money for schools. that's great, but this is a can. yes it is. you can't have a box top on a can. yes we can. but a can isn't a box. we know. i don't think you do. [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup. pancakes! ♪ from dawn 'til sunset, i'll never walk away ♪ ♪ blueberry pancakes are so good ♪ [ male announcer ] bisquick. pancake lovers unite.

shuchl shuffling the kids off to camp and going to outdoor projects can take us away from enjoying what summer has left to offer. >> hour to help us celebrate and event designer and entertaining expert tara wilson. >> with the come to the show. >> thanks for having me. >> there's still time to enjoy a little bitz of summer.

>> whethn you start the party sd an actual invitation. >> you don't like e-invites. >> i don't. they're so impersonal. you love getting real mail. >> i don't. >> put together a little invitation. >> i don't look at my mail. >> oh. >> she doesn't. >> send a real vat tainvitation. >> i know you like drinks with bourbon in them. this is the southern iced tea. meet your guests at the door with this, a splash of bourbon. >> that's delicious, by the way. >> that is very light. >> delicious. this is a clever idea. people in hotels do this. >> keep your guests cool, because it's still hot. i have hand towels for your gues guests. they can pick these up

throughout the day to stay cool. >> don't put them in the freezer because they get icy but put nem in the refrigerator wet. >> here you go. >> don't forget that. >> absolutely. when you're dressing your table, you want to think about keeping it simple. if you just have basic white dishes, one of the things i do is buy a salad plate with a bright pop of color. inexpensive and easy to do. when your guests rsvp for the party, have them send you photos from what they did for the summer. frame them up. it's a great conversation starter. >> that is adorable. >> you put if in front of their plate or someone else? >> i would suggest putting in front of someone else's plate so they can talk back and forth. >> very cute. >> clever idea. >> your trip you recently took, frame those up. >> can't show pictures of that, tara. that's private. >> all right. >> crazy. >> more so to keep the kids entertained. >> okay.

so forego the kids' table. they don't sit down and enjoy it. put together a kids' activity station. >> they really don't. it's a mess in five seconds. >> you go to all that work, and it's just for the parents to look at. instead do an activity station for the little kids do a sandbox treasure hunt. just inexpensive dollar items and a blow-up pool. for the bigger kids do a scavenger hunt and have prizes to win at the end. it's a lot more fun that's creating the table. >> it's a smart idea. you're talking my language. >> absolutely. so the new trend in home parties are all different kinds of bars. what we've done here is an ice cream sandwich bar with homemade ice cream and all the different toppings. >> genius. >> hoda woman. >> hello. >> i can watch you. >> okay. >> if you were going to do it, what would you put on it? >> i would get a peanut butter.

>> i have that right here. >> i would do that and coconut and oreo cookies and -- i think that's what i'd do. that's about it. maybe some almonds. >> sure. okay. you put all the toppings on there. >> yes i would do it whole hog, so to speak. i'll just sip and you guys munch. >> good job. thank you so much. >> we're going to be back in a moment, but first -- actually, we'll have more of "today" on nbc. >> a little more. [ female announcer ] we know jerry brown was mayor of oakland,

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it's been a fun week. >> it's been a terrific week. >> we have an excellent week coming up. >> we have jamie lee curtis. activa. jerry lee lewis and singer-songwriter sarah. first we leave you now with a look back at the week that was. oh, i wonder if there might be -- no.

>> no. >> we wouldn't. >> if i hear the adams family music in this thing, somebody is in trouble. >> nobody would that cruel. tha. . >> hoda's got the day off, and look who is sitting in her chair today. >> thanks. >> yankee great jorge posada and his beautiful wife laura. >> what are we going to do about paris hilton. >> this is worse for me. that's me, okay. so get over it. that's how i am. this is how i roll. >> the real housewives of new jersey. >> are they feeling hormonal today? >> hoda, you look at that.

>> everybody is so funny. everybody. come on. you're my friends. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com

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